New York Times reporter Matt Bai writes a piece today (8/26/10) singling out a Democratic congressmemberwho talks aboutcuts to the federal budget. Thisis presumably an unusual, newsworthything worth writing about–hence the headline, “One Liberal Voice Dares to Say, Cut the Budget.”It’s worth pointing out thatother Democrats have proposed ideas likecutting military spending withoutgetting points for bravery.
The point of the piece is to attack Social Security. Bai cheers on the White House deficit commission, which he argues hasbeen unfairly attacked by liberals who are “mobilizing to discredit the panel’s work” and “pre-emptively oppose the panel’s findings.” These critics don’t get much time to explainthemselves, because Bai needs spaceto malign their ideas as an attack on bipartisanship. As Bai quips: “In other words, the two parties might actually work together on something. They must be stopped!”
Then Bai goes on to explain how Social Security actually works–and turns in a remarkablymisleading explanation:
The coalition bases its case on the idea that Social Security is actually in fine fiscal shape, since it has amassed a pile of Treasury Bills–often referred to as IOUs–in a dedicated trust fund. This is true enough, except that the only way for the government to actually make good on these IOUs is to issue mountains of new debt or to take the money from elsewhere in the federal budget, or perhaps impose significant tax increases–none of which seem like especially practical options for the long term. So this is sort of like saying that you’re rich because your friend has promised to give you 10 million bucks just as soon as he wins the lottery.
Getting the government to pay out benefitsfrom the money it has collected from citizens is like wishing your friend wins the lottery?
Economist Dean Baker points out that that Treasury bills are not “often referred to as IOUs.” Some in the media and some Republicans do that, yes, but it is actually unusual to speak of Treasury bonds this way.
So a New York Times reporter thinks expecting Social Security benefits is like believing you’ll win the lottery, because the trust fund is really a “pile” of “IOUs.” And he’s writing this in the news section.
The government already spent the money it collected from people. This is because the liberal welfare state already defaulted in 1972 and the only way to continue the illusion was to spend all the money in the trust fund and replace them with fraudulent IOUs, after all, who is going to be around in 48 years? OOOPS
@Anon: why is it the “liberal welfare state” that defaulted, rather than, say, the corporate-military state, which insists on spending more than the entire world combined on “defense” every year? Funny how people pick and choose culprits based on their biases. Oops.
Oh yeah ‘anon’ – – and let’s run the government ‘like a business’ (another favorite conservative canard) and when these government ‘business-men’ create another ‘Great Recession’/Depression, then where do they go for relief? OOOOPS – run to the government to bail them out again! Of course, if you’re a Neo-Con/Libertarian you’ll reject that in favor of massive unemployment and MORE trade deficits and US wage reductions, which in turn lead to reduced tax revenues, and we’ll continue a downward spiral into third-world status. Also, do you happen to recall all the people whose 401Ks recently turned into 201Ks because they were heavily invested in the PRIVATE SECTOR’s stock market? OOOOPS again…
Matt Bai is without doubt a Republican party stooge.
The Nazis learned to tell the big lie and to repeat over and over. The more that big lie is told, the more people will believe it because they have heard it so often and they will not make the effort to investigate to determine the truth. Anon wrote that the government has already spent the money. Well, duh. The government has borrowed the money to pay for tax cuts for the rich, to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and it owes that money to the Social Security Trust fund just the same as it owes the Chinese and all other bond investors. The government borrows the money because taxes have been cut and the economy is in recession. Unemployment reduces income tax revenues needed to run the military, the Food and Drug administration and all of the other programs that “we the people want and depend upon to protect our country. The Trust fund will simply cash in bonds as the money is needed and the government will sell bonds to repay loans. The Trust fund holds 2.5 trillion dollars in United States treasury bonds that were paid for by workers and their employers. This country has never defaulted on its debt. No one would ever buy Treasury Bonds if it did. Because of the stubborn Bush recession, the trust fund will pay out more in benefits this year than it will receive in payroll taxes, but because it will earn interest on its Trust fund securities, the trust fund will still grow this year.
To call Treasury Bills IOU’s is to arguably viiolate the 14th Ammendment article 4:
The validity of the public debt of the United States … shall not be questioned.
Both the NYT and WAPO are just right wing rags not even fit to wrap fish!
Well, the DEM jackass-souls could also just do what they’re expert at on Bush tax cuts’ expiration – NOTHING – too! But NOOOO … they must be spurred into action? And as far as the Catfood Commission is concerned; if it proceeds as expected, anticipate a Cat Food-Fight of CATACLYSMIC proportions!
Gene W. DeVaux, the original Nazis learned from the master right here in the USA, Edward Bernays*. The Third Reich is gone by the USA propaganda machine marches on into an increasing depressing future. Matt Bai is just one of a legion of such scions of the oligarchs promoting and believing their point of view. One that would empower and enrich them, and enslave and kill us.
The Warfare State far exceeds the Welfare State because those who are spending hide much of their funds and are the ones who want to defund and render into oblivion the New Deal and all its permutations. Obama‘s 2010 budget gives 60% of it to the military/corporate/surveillance complex.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays
Fellow posters: Do not, under any circumstances, respond to the numbskull who calls himself michael e. Be strong. That is all. Same goes for any of the reactionary polluters who lurch in here.
To TimN……….Surprised to see my name mentioned here in that wisp of hate called your blog entry since I have not even responded to this story!!!!!!.Hey didnt i see your idea back when the president and his cronies tried to blackball and silence his critics(Fox)?Yeah that was you.By the by hows that workin out for ya?
Glen Beck is speaking in Washington today.Are you that guy on the radio saying turn off your TVs.DO NOT in any way shape or form listen?RUN DUCK DODGE HIDE!I believe the word you are searching for partner is “shun”.You want your fellow libs to shun concervs and their ideas.Lets expand on that shall we?How about Christians shun those who believe in Islam?Whites shun blacks.Rich shun the poor.No sorry I…dont see that as a good idea.How a bouts this…… “WE” who still feel freedom of speech and discourse are pivital….shun people who call all those with different opinions “reactionary polluters”.Maybe the only people worth shunning is the guy who try’s to shut down freedom of thought even before it is given.My man you need a good mirror.
I am an Independent, and I don’t take as gospel anything either party says. I do my own thinking, and I make my own choices, after much reflection. It is obvious to me that the Democrats are much more the party of the people, and they care more about the common good. Republicans, on the other hand, are corporate agents, they act in the interests of the rich. And so for me, its an easy choice. I care about good jobs, universal healthcare, decent homes, a clean environment, and a safe neighborhood. I care about religious freedom, equal rights, job security, civil rights. Etc., etc., etc. I consider it a privilege to pay my share of taxes, and I expect rich people to pay their share. Taxes are what keep this country running. These things are what I care about, and so I will vote every time, for Democrats.
genierae two things .What is your fair share of taxes?I say 98%.Is it fair now?who decides this random penalty?How a bout Me?I want that job.Tax n spend is what is KILLING this country among other things.And I believe Dems as well as Rs want all the things mentioned.One wants to achieve it by spending and taxing us into oblivion.By penalizing those who produce and subsidizing those who don’t.But sooner or later you run out of other folks money and it al comes crashing down.Common good???Don’t you mean the collective?
Rs are corporate agents who only care fore the rich.?That is nonsense.Boogey man stuff.That and the vaunted military industrial complex.Racists…..Hyperbole,pure innuendo and hyperbole.
It is obvious in the last election the Ds were the party of the people .They won.This time around they will loose and not be.The Rs skrewed up a lot.Ds took it another million miles down the rat hole.Now we will see if the Rs have learned anything.Hopefully their first moves will be to defund every bit of Obama madness that has been passed..
My mother worked as a Registered Nurse from 1925 to 1989 (3 days a week during the depression) and time-off for 4 pregnancies. Her only support in her last years was a small social security check. My mother-in-law had a similar economic background and worked as a chamber maid until she was 70 years old. Her World War 1 widow’s pension check of $50 was reduced every time her social security check was increased by cost of living adjustments.
Alan Simpson ,the Chairman of the Social Security Pension Commission considers these women like cows living off the government udder … but he also thought Law Professor Anita Hill was a liar because she was willing to publicly question Justice Clarence Thomas moral behavior based on her personal experience.
Excuse me if I think the Social Security Commission is a bag job for those who don’t want to pay taxes and they want the Defense Department to spend more money than the rest of the World combined.
1st, it is t-bonds that are specially designated for the SS trust funds. These bonds are so desirable that they have been incresing in value, virtually everyday for the last several months, and are sought after the world over. Saying they are “IOU’s” disrespects them just as it would be to speak of all the notes payable held by a bank as “IOU’s” and not worthy of postive valuation. 2nd, SS can have nothing to do with any federal deficit since it is paid in taxes, yours and mine. That the Federal Gov’t should follow thru in its promise, as evidenced by the T-Bonds, and pay us back when retired or disabled, is the insurance that FDR wanted. The true welfare queens are the banksters, the huckster Goldman Sachs types, and all the other so-called conservatives who use gov’ts, right down to local, to feed their backpockets thru their corrupt practices. They want this money for the Stock Market, so that they can continue to manipulate and steal in that way. SS is the biggest fund in the world, never defaulted and have you heard your parents, even right wiingers complain? Not likely. So, it’s all about going after the younger generation cuz’ the older is too smart for them.
As long as Congress(both r and d) can borrow against those funds,the numbers are never going to be safe.Nobody complains??????Where have you been g lachner?Ever see the stats showing if the average person had put money into any number of private funds how much they would of earned visa vi SS?Average person would of been able to live/retire comfortably if not well ,and upon their death bequeath an average of $260.000 to their kin.SS gives a farthing and leaves you with nothing.Along those lines our youth should be able to opt out.Look The government has robbed and robbed again to float SS.And then borrowed what they robbed,and printed,and bailed out with tax dollars.All well and good in a robust economy.Not so good in the Obama depression.SS could still work in some fashion.But to lord it as proof that government socialist programs work is a far stretch indeed.To put it plainly we may be able to afford SS.But that about does it for going to the till.No more endless government nanny state dependancy programs.You shot your load with SS.And that also goes for any raise in taxes …..for any earning group!I still think(yeah maybe I am becoming a conspiracy nut)that there is a little old man in a liberal shack somewhere with a red phone.He thinks up new taxes and burdens on peoples worth all day long.And with his little red phone he gives Obama thee most important info of the day.New taxes.On anything you can think of.He in effect plans out where to lay in wait along the trail to bushwack those who have a couple coins in their pockets.
Fantastic job of catapulting our propaganda, Micheal…keep it up
Rupert Murdoch me old scout.Remember the good old days riding about in our gold plated cars throwing hundreds to the poor shlubs and laughing as they fought tooth and nail in the chicago slums?Aha!!!!Caught you.I knew it wasn’t you.It was never Chicago…..It was Atlanta.Hope that fulfills your dreams of how you view the other side.
Look in the mirror pal.You have a black hat on now mr big government tax n spend progressive tell us all the rules to live by.You are….THE MAN!In your defense Your intentions are probably good.But the road to hell is paved with liberal good intentions.As a recovering Dem myself I can tell you that your on the wrong trail partner.In November a new group will mosey up to Washington to restore the balance between Government and the private sector.And they will be wearing the white hats.But you will come around.All this failure ……….in economics and everything else Bam touches must teach you something.I still believe we can join hands and sing kumbaya .And wave as Obamas plane sails onward to his retirement on some 300 grand per year golf community condo ranch.
Fantastic job of catapulting our propaganda, Michealâ┚¬Ã‚¦keep it up
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