In light of these remarks from Chairman Greenspan, it's instructive to read this article by Greg Anrig, Jr., pointing out that on Social Security, Alan Greenspan (Maestro, as Woodward's book called him) has no clothes.
Over the past two decades, Greenspan has repeatedly argued that Reagan's "ironclad commitment" should be broken. Year after year, he has said that the benefits promised to future retirees are unaffordable, that the retirement age should be delayed further, and that other ways of reducing benefits should be considered. And yet in 2001, Greenspan endorsed the Bush tax cuts, which mainly benefited the highest income Americans. If made permanent, those tax cuts would amount to more than three times the size of Social Security's projected shortfall over the next 75 years, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. In Greenspan's view, the Social Security benefits that his own commission promised to future retirees are not affordable, but tax cuts for the wealthy are.
Yes indeed. It was Greenspan who chaired the commission in 1983 which recommended raising payroll taxes to build up the surplus in Social Security funds just to ensure that the babyboomers' retirement needs would be met.
Maybe that title should be taken away.
Posted by Linkmeister at February 17, 2005 12:01 AM