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As Long as I've Got MineBy Rick Horowitz
Here's all you need to know, you aging slice of the great American apple pie, about the president's plan to retool the Social Security system you grew up with: "If you're 55 or older, nothing's going to change." And here's all you're supposed to think about it: "Oh, OK then." That's the president's fondest hope, anyway. That millions of seniors and soon-to-be-seniors will breathe a sigh of relief -- and then shut up and mind their own business. It's still early, but so far? No way. Which is why the news is filled with horror stories -- horror stories about Republican congressmen who spent the Presidents' Day recess back home among their constituents, trying to sell them on the president's latest fixation, and returned to Washington with the special look that comes from staring deep into the abyss. Undoing the New Deal is one thing, but risking their own reelection? That's a hearse of a different color. Rough translation: "Why should I walk the plank for him?" Not an unreasonable question. It was never going to be an easy sell -- they understood that right from the get-go -- but the president and his advisers had a strategy, a winning strategy: Appeal to self-interest. To everyone's self-interest. For the old-timers and borderline old-timers, that meant reassurance. And for the younger folks, a chance at the big score. The only thing missing from the president's strategy was common sense. And family sense. (And soundproof booths.) Common Sense: The president's pitchmen are telling certain people that if they're lucky enough to be 55 or older, they don't have to worry; even under the president's plan, their Social Security will be totally secure. Which can only mean that, under the president's plan, someone else's Social Security might not be. And of course, at the very same time, the president's pitchmen are telling those very same someone elses that, unlike those pathetic 55-plussers who are stuck with low returns on their decades of contributions, Generations X and Y and Z will be able to play the market with some of their own contributions, and take a shot at even higher returns. So which is it? Are the plussers protected and the Xers at risk? Or are the Xers riding the rocket while the plussers toddle along in the snail lane? The president says: Both. Either. Neither. It all depends. Go away. Isn't that comforting? Family Sense: Say, just for argument's sake, that the 55-plussers buy the president's line that they'll be protected. For the prez to close the sale, though, he also has to convince them that their own financial security is all that matters, that as long as they're taken care of -- "I've got mine, Jack" -- who cares what happens afterward? But the thing is, plenty of those 55-plussers have actually met a few of the lesser-aged here and there. True, these encounters haven't always been without problems; sometimes the younger folks even call the older folks names. "Mom." "Dad." Just for instance. And many of the older folks, for reasons only they -- and sometimes not even they -- can comprehend, actually do care what happens afterward. And what that means is this: When parents think kids are at risk -- whether the danger is the kids' own behavior or some cotton-candy government scheme, shutting up and minding their own business is the last thing they'll do. They'll even go to town meetings and raise a commotion. Isn't that comforting? Here's all you need to know, you aging slice of the great American apple pie: You've got 'em running scared. Posted 3/1/05. Get
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Rick Horowitz
