September 25, 2006 

Penn Patriot

 Brown Shoes Diary 

Robert Casey Jr., Brain at Rest

This isn't exactly a news flash, but Robert Casey Jr. is pretty light between the ears. Witness his four point take on Social Security.

Point one he makes is that we have to squelch any crazy privatization plan that people like Rick Santorum are suggesting. Point two he says is to quit raiding the surplus paid into Social Security. But isn't that what creating private accounts is all about? The whole idea of private accounts is simply to take the overpayment and instead of letting the government spend it however it wants, we create instead secure ownership rights for the taxpayer and future retiree. To borrow a phrase from another Democrat: Think lock-box.

Even if such action costs $1 trillion today as Mr. Casey suggests, it will save us many trillions in the future. Can't we at least let the actuaries let us know if that is a good deal?

Effectively, Mr. Casey is arguing against himself on points one and two. There is probably no better solution to the bait-and-switch element of Social Security than mandating that the surplus taxes become again the property of taxpayers, which is what private accounts would accomplish. Yes, it would be more sensible to just let people keep their own money and manage their own retirements, but I doubt Mr. Casey is ever going to see the wisdom in that.

Casey's point three is to tax the rich, which is the preferred solution of socialists everywhere for every problem. Yet, which socialist paradise is swimming in wealth thanks to progressive taxation? Since the rich are the ones who create jobs and produce and augment capital, taxing them is a very counterproductive thing for a government to do.

Point four of Casey's, and this is the most sure sign of the deficit between his ears, is that a growing economy will make the Social Security shortfall less of a problem. But even if there weren't a problem with the demographics of the imminent huge retirement population, a growing economy means worse problems for Social Security. That is because Social Security's promises are based on what one earns--the more you earn, the more you are entitled to receive. At the margin, for each dollar someone earns, his benefit goes up by either 32 cents or 15 cents; but the Social Security Tax (Please don't call it a contribution!) is only 12.4 cents per dollar. Even a public school grad ought to be able to do that math--the more the economy grows and the more people earn, the greater the outflows of Social Security compared to its inflows.

It seems very likely the Mr. Casey will become the next U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. He will be either 99th or 100th in terms of seniority among the 100 senators and a member of the minority party. As a result, he will be either 99th or 100th in terms of power. Given his substantial intellectual impairment, we can all be thankful for that.
 

The opinions and ideas expressed in this essay are those of John D McGinnis and should not be considered representative of WRTA.com, any institution with which McGinnis is associated, or anyone else.  He can be contacted at john@wrta.com.
 

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