Robert Kuttner on how Chimpy's latest is just what you suspected--a guaranteed increase in the number of elderly Americans who fall into poverty with no safety net.
THERE IS one useful thing about President Bush's "progressive indexing" proposal for Social Security. It finally makes explicit what we suspected--that Bush intends benefit cuts for most American workers in order to finance his privatization plan.
Privatization, let's recall, requires either new taxes or increased government borrowing or benefit cuts--you can't spend the same money twice. Under the present system, payroll taxes pay the cost of Social Security retirement checks. Bush would divert some of that tax money to optional private accounts. Consequently, privatization would worsen Social Security's modest projected shortfall by trillions of dollars unless benefits are cut.
"Progressive indexing" is a disguised benefit cut, but the disguise is pitifully transparent. Here's how it works:link
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