Weakly Standard on SS Privatization

This article is pro-privatizaton. But it unintentionally makes an argument against the idea. Acknowledging that it's going to be a hard fight, thanks to the number of Dems and Repubs that are having a tough time swallowing the admin's proposals.

But in the last paragraph, we see this: "Republican unity in Congress may not be sufficient to win passage, but it is necessary. For the White House, the key task is to draft a Social Security proposal that will please or at least be acceptable to three Republican factions. The first faction favors dumping the "wage index" used to calculate a beneficiary's initial monthly payment. This would slow the growth of benefits by 40 percent over the next few decades while keeping benefits at the current, inflation-adjusted level. The White House initially looked favorably on this. But it's moved away from the idea in the face of noisy objections that a 40 percent "cut" is a nonstarter."

So, the only way to get it passed is to refuse to cut benefits. The cost would already be in the trillions-- why not add some more?