Thursday, May 19, 2005
GOP Pans One Half of the Wexler Plan
Here's the second half of the Wexler plan to assure Social Security solvency:
We've seen the WSJ comment on the Wexler Plan, and today, Luskin . Neither mentions that the Wexler plan puts pay as you go budget rules back in place so the rest of the government can't keep spending so much more than it brings in.
Luskin even goes out of his way to say bringing in new SS payroll tax revenue now would require tax hikes later since Congress would simply spend any additional revenue that comes in to the Social Security trust fund. You'd think he'd mention that Wexler's plan would solve that particular problem by fixing the rest of the budget now, if he were seriously trying to comment on the Wexler plan, rather than simply falling into demagoguery.
Elected Democrats have distanced themselves from the Wexler plan. Not a bad idea, given that the current congress would will game anything that is put forward in order to pass a bill that would eventually phase traditional Social Security benefits out. But I do hope somebody steps up to dismantle the straw man that Luskin and the WSJ have been posturing against.
The proposal also institutes a pay-as-you-go “paygo” budget measure that will help to reduce future debt and safeguard the Social Security Trust Fund by requiring future Congresses to pay dollar for dollar any new tax cuts or spending programs they enact.
We've seen the WSJ comment on the Wexler Plan, and today, Luskin . Neither mentions that the Wexler plan puts pay as you go budget rules back in place so the rest of the government can't keep spending so much more than it brings in.
Luskin even goes out of his way to say bringing in new SS payroll tax revenue now would require tax hikes later since Congress would simply spend any additional revenue that comes in to the Social Security trust fund. You'd think he'd mention that Wexler's plan would solve that particular problem by fixing the rest of the budget now, if he were seriously trying to comment on the Wexler plan, rather than simply falling into demagoguery.
Elected Democrats have distanced themselves from the Wexler plan. Not a bad idea, given that the current congress would will game anything that is put forward in order to pass a bill that would eventually phase traditional Social Security benefits out. But I do hope somebody steps up to dismantle the straw man that Luskin and the WSJ have been posturing against.
