Privatizers claim there is, but they don't believe it.
How can you tell?
1. Claim: The crisis starts when the first dollar is needed from the
trust fund (in 2018). But, private accounts require dipping into the trust from
day one — they see no problem with that.
2. Claim: The trust fund is just paper and of no use. But they plan to
spend all of it — ~$2 trillion (see red line in graph below).
3. Claim: Once the trust is gone Social Security is "bankrupt."
But, if they get their private accounts, no problem, they say. Just borrow
trillions.
4. When Bush talks to those over 55, he says there's no crisis for them.
5. The privatizers told us in 1983 they would need a crisis to push this
through. They're tired of waiting, so now they pretend there's a crisis.
A Crisis in 2018?
Privatizers claim that as soon as Social Security needs to use some of the interest the trust is earning, the treasury just won't be able to come up with the money. Oddly, the Treasury has borrowed billions for every other reason; why not to pay back the Social Security it owes us?
But the clincher is this. Private accounts would divert between 1/3 and 1/2 of Social Security's payroll-tax income, normally used to pay retirees, and put it into private accounts. This would stop the money now flowing ... more
