By Marion Edwyn Harrison, Esq.
President Barack Hussein Obama has proposed that the 111th Congress authorize a supposedly one-time $ 250.00 payment to all older folks - the “in” word is seniors - who draw Social Security. The payment would be made in 2010. By sheer coincidence, in 2010 one-third of United States Senate and all House of Representatives seats will be up for election. By more coincidence, most pundits are predicting various measures of Republican gains.
Enough sarcasm. Three additional realities are applicable. They are so simple that, as this writer, one need not be an economist to understand them. The first is that the payment would cost $ 13 billion, at a time when we the taxpayers - and worse, our children and grandchildren - are burdened by the largest national debt in history. The second reality is that pursuant to existing law Social Security automatically increases its benefits, commonly termed a cost-of-living adjustment, when inflation strikes but for 2010 there would be no such increase because there has been no 2009 inflation.
THE WASHINGTON POST is hardly a conservative newspaper but often by print-media criteria is quite detailed and occasionally very balanced. On October 18, 2009 it published a brief story about comments of eight people: the Chief Economist at the Concord Coalition; a Democratic pollster and writer; an Urban Institute Fellow who was Congressional Budget Office (“CBO”) Director 1983 - 1987; the Chief Economist of Moody’s Economy.com; House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-OH); former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA); the 2003 - 2005 CBO Director, later an economic advisor to the 2008 McCain Presidential Campaign; and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-NV).
The Democratic pollster and author candidly noted the political value to the President of the “relatively inexpensive [sic] $ 13 billion proposal . . .” The Moody’s economist favored the proposal, somewhat characterizing it as the equivalent of the lesser of two evils (to use my phrase). Senator Reid, as would be expected, supported the proposal and characterized potential opposition as “partisan bickering . . .” The other five objected.
Meanwhile, as our population ages and benefits increase with inflation, the third, and dangerously underlying, reality continues to be that Social Security is on the road to disaster. The attached commentaries delve into some detail and history: July 9 and April 21, 2009; December 16, 2004. Who seriously, nonpolitically and convincingly could contend that a single-shot election-year $ 13 billion aggregate of $ 250.00 payments would be other than a further step to accelerate Social-Security insolvency?
Marion Edwyn Harrison is President of, and Counsel to, the Free Congress Foundation.
