alternative hippopotamus

progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital

August 15, 2006

The Social Security Horse Swap

by AltHippo @ 1:28 pm. Filed under hacks

One of the more painful aspects of this exchange between Josh Marshall and Mickey Kaus, documented by eRobin, is the “trade” that Kaus proposes:

K: In Australia they did this and cut the program in half. The top third get nothing. The poorest third get full benefits. In the middle there’s a transition and you get something in between. Are you saying that if we lop off the top third, that wouldn’t be worth it to trade for UHC?

JMM: Again, I think your idea of a trade is a fallacy. No, I don’t think we should cut all SS benefits for people in the upper third of seniors. I don’t think SS is there just to keep people literally off the sidewalks and from dying without electricity in pools of their own urine. I think there’s something to be said for the way we have it so that people can expect some sort of reasonable lifestyle as seniors. I would ask you: you go find the stats in terms of the inc charts where you get for the income for the “upper third of seniors” who draw SS checks.

Shorter Kaus: You give me Social Security, and I’ll see what we can do about Universal Health Care.

Ending Social Security is the holy grail of the Republican Party. Though, breaking the backs of the environmental movement is not far behind (see ANWR, drilling) Meanwhile, Kaus knows that Universal Health Care is in the cards, so it’s a pretty convenient bargaining chip.

Instead, I’d like to offer Kaus what I think is a fair trade: If Democrats win the House this November you guys get to keep either Bush or Cheney, but not both. That sounds fair to me. I mean, wouldn’t retiring Bush be worth it, as long as you got to keep the Big Guy around? Best part: Bush is still eligible for Social Security benefits. So, it’s win-win.

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One Response to “The Social Security Horse Swap”

  1. eRobin Says:
    August 15th, 2006 at 1:40 pm

    Best part: Bush is still eligible for Social Security benefits. So, it’s win-win.

    You’re a genius.

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