Is the proposed reform of Social Security a scam? If so, for what purpose? What's the real agenda?
The defining characteristic of Karl Rove and his cronies is that they get people to do things that are against their own best interest. A recent example is that they persuaded millions of hard-working, patriotic and law-abiding citizens to vote for an executive who is bound and determine to deprive them of a comfortable old age.
How did they do that? Well, in the most recent instance, they set up a fearful scenario that had no basis in fact and then promised to protect them from that. In past decades, the targets of their shenanigans were most Democrats elected to national office. Against them, the strategy involved running up debts beyond anyone's comprehension through mismanagement, waste and organized fraud (Iran-contra comes to mind) and tricking Democrats into bailing out the country by raising taxes, a solution for which they were then driven from office so the Republican scamming could start again.
Their challenge now, since they have retained the majority in both Houses of Congress, is how to trick the Democrats into bailing out the federal government with a huge inflow of cash, without giving in and admitting that THEY will have to raise taxes because the Chinese and other prudent traders are not going to hold their paper much longer.
Considering that a good portion of the debts they have racked up so far have been covered by the cash flowing into the Social Security coffers, the logical thing to do is to simply increase the flow. And the way to do that is to let the Democrats raise the cap on the amount and kind of income that is used to calculate the contribution to the insurance fund. And the way to get Democrats to do that is by threatening to dismantle the whole darn system if they don't.
What makes this strategy particularly pernicious is that getting rid of the artificial cap is actually a good idea. Indeed, it would be even better to reduce the over-all rate in return, especially since the Social Security system doesn't need any additional money right now. But that wouldn't take care of the real problem, the sea of red ink that's been created by feeding the military-industrial beast. Which is why what Rove and his cronies have up their sleeves is a trick. Regardless of what they call it now, come election time, the Democrats will again be tagged with having raised taxes.
So, my advice to Democrats is real simple. Don't do it. Just say, no. The military-industrial complex won't even have to be starved to get rid of the red. Just put the beast on a diet.