Commentary by Greg Anrig: Alan Greenspan and the Meaning of 'Trust'

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=43131


Commentary by Greg Anrig: Alan Greenspan and the Meaning of 'Trust'

2/15/2005 8:00:00 AM


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To: Opinion Editor

Contact: Christy Hicks of the Century Foundation, 212-452-7723

NEW YORK, Feb. 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following commentary is by Greg Anrig:

When Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan testifies before the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday, it will be the first time he will comment publicly on President George W. Bush's proposal to privatize Social Security. Great weight will be given to his statements. But in light of Greenspan's long, tortured relationship with Social Security, his views should be treated with the same skepticism that Dr. Phil shows toward his guests.

Greenspan famously chaired a bipartisan commission that in 1983 issued recommendations for strengthening Social Security. Those reforms, which President Reagan signed into law in April of that year, made a promise to American workers: your payroll taxes will be increased in order to finance the build up of trust funds, which will secure Social Security benefits when you retire in the 21st Century. The Greenspan Commission's plan has worked even better than imagined, with projections today showing that promised benefits can be paid in full until 2052, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

When President Ronald Reagan signed the Greenspan Commission's reforms into law, he pronounced, "This Bill demonstrates for all time our nation's ironclad commitment to Social Security. It assures the elderly that America will always keep the promises made in troubled times a half a century ago. It assures those who are still working that they, too, have a pact with the future. From this day forward, they have our pledge that they will get their fair share of benefits when they retire."

But Greenspan himself, in an interview with the New York Times just weeks after the signing ceremony, said, "Do I like the present Social Security system? No. If you asked me whether it would be necessary in the ideal society, I'd say no. Our type of economy is far removed from where I would like to see it, but you have to be careful about moving from one type of society to another."

He is basically an enemy of such programs

Hmm...

Our type of economy is far removed from where I would like to see it, but you have to be careful about moving from one type of society to another.

I know he's a Randian, but what 'type of society'is Greenspan pushing us toward? If it's so different that we 'have to be careful' about moving too quickly to it, what is it exactly? Fascism, with a better marketing department? Too bad nobody really told Americans what Mr. Greenspan has been pushing us toward.

Most Americans are under the mistaken belief that Greenspan is conservative (even boring), not right-radical, in his beliefs.

once his entire roles on social security and support for tax cuts to be funded by an ultimate multi-trillion dollar raid on the mythical lockbox are laid out for the American worker to see in their entirety."