In a sensible world this statement by that oh-so-admired Paul Ryan, R-WI, would disqualify him from consideration as a serious man. Told that Senator Harry Reid said yesterday that he wouldn't consider any changes to Social Security because the program isn't broken and doesn't contribute to the deficit (true statements, both of them), Ryan said today:
I would argue, even though, it’s not really a driver of our debt, it’s not a significant part of our debt problems, it would build great confidence, fixing Social Security on a bipartisan basis, because it would tell not only the credit markets that Americans are getting their act together, it would buy us more time and space with them, it would show that our government’s not broken. (Emphasis mine)So, even though he agrees it doesn't contribute to the deficit, he thinks it needs "fixing" to "send a message." Republicans are certainly gung-ho about sending messages, aren't they? By golly, we can fix a non-broken thing by privatizing it (see his Roadmap for America's Future1) just to show the bond market we can accomplish something!
Yet our foolish media Village takes him seriously.
1. The Ryan plan proposes large cuts in Social Security benefits — roughly 16 percent for the average new retiree in 2050 and 28 percent in 2080 from price indexing alone — and initially diverts most of these savings to help fund private accounts rather than to restore Social Security solvency.
Posted by Linkmeister at March 17, 2011 03:10 PM | TrackBack