Time to Pony Up to the Truth

Peter Ferrara wishes that personal accounts alone would address solvency.  He wishes the president had chosen a better staff, but doesn't blame the president for their failings.  He wishes people would embrace GROW accounts.  He wishes Social Security legislation would pass soon.  But he forgot something.  He should wish that everyone get their own pony too!

Hopes amid the stumbling, by Peter Ferrara, Commentary Washington Times: President Bush conceded Tuesday what has long been obvious ... His Social Security reform efforts have stalled out. Personal accounts for Social Security, however, are still alive and kicking on the Hill, and can still pass within the next few months. Mr. Bush to me is a brave and endearing figure of high character, who has been poorly served by others on many fronts. That is the case in his Social Security reform failure too. ... Despite the president's better instincts, his staff misled him back into this swamp of failure... the staff sold the president the canard Democrats would support personal accounts in return for his support of price-indexing Social Security benefits... As should have been expected, the Democrats have uniformly opposed such price indexing. ... The staff's price indexing debacle was the equivalent to suggesting the president could get Democrats to support sweeping tax cuts if he would only embrace cutting food stamps and public housing. Earlier this year, the president was even sent out to argue for personal accounts, while ridiculously mouthing the proposition the accounts would not solve Social Security's problems. To address long-term solvency, the president put "on the table" large reductions in future promised benefits, delayed retirement age -- and even tax increases. The staff had sold the president another scandalous canard here ... All is not lost, however. Support for the GROW accounts legislation surges in Congress, to stop the current annual raid on the Social Security surplus for other government spending. ... This proposal is political dynamite because it combines the extremely popular idea of ending the raid on the Social Security trust funds with the still quite popular personal accounts, without any tax increases or benefit cuts...