St Wendeler over at Another Rovian Conspiracy has a great post about another blogger. It seems that Ezra Klein posted her/his thoughts about that dimbulb Pelosi’s comments recently:
Pelosi’s really on the right track here (See Matt? I show the love). If Bush is denying the legitimacy of US Treasury Bonds, then that, not Social Security, is the real issue here. What’s happened that America cannot pay back its debts? If our situation was truly so dire, shouldn’t our president have known that and not pushed for deficit-worsening tax cuts or Medicare expansions? If we can’t pay for the trust fund, can we pay the Chinese? Is there any chance they’d try to extract payment militarily? What about corporate investors? What about individual investors? Exactly who are we going to stiff? And if we’re not going to welch to any of those investors, why are we not paying the trust fund back? Bush is like a kid with a mouth full of crumbs and a stomach ache who, when caught putting the lid on the cookie jar, turns and says “Cookies? We didn’t have any cookies.” This is either his fault or it’s not happening.
If Democrats are smart, Republicans will rue the day they adopted this fake trust fund defense. The questions it raises about how our government is being run are much more serious than the doubt it casts on Social Security. The trust fund is, in essence, simply a government debt. The government runs thousands of different debts payable to millions of different sources. We’ve been doing that since the country’s inception, and it works because we always pay back our debts. If we stop paying what we owe, our economy will crash. Bush and friends have thus adopted a line of attack that, far from nailing Social Security, is targeted right between their lying eyes, about six inches above their lying mouths. Debt repayment is the function of the government. Bush is the leader of the government. If the government can’t pay back its debts, he better explain why, and quick. To paraphrase Alexis Bledel from Sin City, “Don’t look now cowboy, but you’re running out of valley”.
I’m more like Wendeler’s 3 year old, cant really dress down someone like he can so I will put his dressing down here:
The government could pay back the trillions in debt that the Social Security Trust Fund will incur (beginning in 2017 and reaching apocalyptic levels in 2041), but the way to pay for that debt is with (then current) tax revenues. So, if the then-current tax revenues are not sufficient to pay for that SS debt, either the promises are left unfulfilled OR we impose exhorbitant tax increases. And we’re not talking about rolling back Bushie’s tax cuts… we’re talking about much more than that.
THAT’S THE PROBLEM, EZRA!! We’re looking at a situation where taxes will hit astronomical levels in 30 years in order to keep the current cr@ppy social security returns afloat. Through the power of compound interest, this blow can be lessened… but I know, I know… your side is LOOKING FORWARD to confiscatory tax policies.
A littleq quiz, Ezra. I know, you probably don’t have ANY training in economics, finance, or business… you probably are enrolled in basketweaving at UCLA and I realize you’re just a junior and all… but this really isn’t that tough.
Which results in a higher amount in 20 years:
- $1000 in your sock drawer?
- $1000 in a bank account earningg 3% interest
If you said 2, you are correct.
Heck, my 3 year old gets this… when will Ezra? (Don’t worry, Ezra.. I’m sure you’ll have a bright future in Democractic party politics… it’s unfortunate that the same can’t be said of the Democratic party, though. But hey, big fish in a little pond can be kind of cool, right?)
Too funny!

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