Republicans Stepping Up Against Social Security Nonsense

Two important Republicans are now publicly disputing the President's claim that social security is in crisis. Rep. Bill Thomas, Chairman of the House panel covering Social Security, and Sen. Olympia Snowe, on the Senate Finance Committee, are saying that Social Security is not in crisis, but they are advocating a more comprehensive overhaul of the Social Security system.

Thomas is suggesting varied retirement age based on race, gender and occupation. This is an idea born out of examining statistics showing that women live longer, people in blue collar jobs will have a harder time performing their jobs till 65 than office workers, and minorities have a shorter life expectancy. Of course, if you break down this idea, it's both racists and elitist. If disparities exist in the amount of healthcare that is received by minorities and by people in a lower income level, which they do, the answer isn't giving them retirement early, it's fixing the underlying problems. But we are a band-aid society after all, why fix a problem when you can cover it up?

After all, there's really no need to address Social Security now at all. We have nearly 40 years to figure something out. The people who will face less than 100% benefits paid are not the baby boomers, but the Gen Xers in their mid twenties. "The system is expected to have enough money to cover 100% of benefits until 2042. That timeframe has prompted Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other Democrats to accuse Bush of manufacturing a crisis."

posted by Sarai @ 11:41 AM