Max J. Skidmore - Social Security and Its Enemies: The Case for Americas Most Efficient Insurance Program

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Social Security and Its Enemies

Social Security and its Enemies

The Case for America's Most Efficient Insurance Program

Max J. Skidmore

First published 1999 by Westview Press, Inc.

Published 2019 by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright 1999 Taylor & Francis

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Skidmore, Max J., 1933
Social security and its enemies : the case for America's most efficient insurance program / Max J. Skidmore.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8133-3663-5
1. Social securityUnited States. I. Title.
HD7125.S565 1999
368.4'3'00973dc21

99-17939
CIP

ISBN 13: 978-0-367-28764-1 (hbk)

For Joey Skidmore
(one of rock and roll's most creative voices), Faye, and their family with assurance that Social Security will be there for them

Contents

1. xiv
2. xv

Guide

Social Security and Its Enemies

Everyone knows that Social Security is in dangerbut almost no one really understands why. Contrary to popular belief, Social Security is not in danger from retiring baby boomers. In fact, in 2030 when the boomers have retired, the work force will contain a substantially higher percentage of the population than it did in the 1960s when the boomers were young. Nor does trouble arise from grasping greedy geezers or government theft of Social Security funds.

The real danger is not that Social Security is unsound, but that its enemies might convince the public to accept "reforms" that would destroy it. Who are the enemies? They are the ideologues and the selfish. The ideologues would eliminate government programs in the name of ideological purity. The selfish lust after the fortunes to be made if even a small portion of Social Security were "privatized." Neither group is concerned with the consequences of their actions for others.

The only true threat facing the systemapart from possible problems with Medicarecomes from a skillful and well financed propaganda campaign, a campaign that has convinced many citizens and policymakers that Social Security is in dire need of reformthat it must be "saved." A close look at most major "reforms" reveals that they are clever attacks designed to demolish the world's most successful and most efficient income-maintenance program. deals with the special situation of Medicare.

America tends to be especially vulnerable to political rhetoric that uses the symbols of individualism. Such rhetoric can lead to public misunderstanding of government programs. The skillful use of rhetoric by Ronald Reagan and his political heirs has generated the perception of a Social Security crisis. That Social Security remains popular in the face of such an onslaught is a tribute to its soundness. That many people fail to recognize that a government program can be so efficient is the major danger.

There are many books about Social Security. Some are technical explanations of the system. Others are designed for scholarly specialists. Social Security and Its Enemies is different. It does explain the history and principles of the system, and it will certainly be useful in a variety of college and university classes. But its major importance is in countering the propaganda designed to destroy Social Security. It examines the sources of that propaganda, explains clearly why there is no crisis, and reveals the motives of the opponents.

Most books written for the public portray Social Security as fatally flawed. They suggest revisions that would reduce benefits, shrink Social Security into a welfare program limited to the very poor, or eliminate it entirely. These books result from the efforts of special interests that would benefit from dismantling a program that, in addition to being the most efficient and successful of its kind, is also the largest. These same special interests have poured forth a flood of articles calculated to convince the public that Social Security as we know it cannot survive.

Because of Social Security's popularity, much of the attack upon it masquerades as objective, nonpartisan, and impartial. This is shrewd strategy, and it often works. Sam Beard, for example, seeks to eliminate social insurance and replace it with private savings. Raising the false issue of "intergenerational equity" and addressing his appeals to the young, he likes to pretend that he is a liberal, and he has even succeeded in having one of his books listed in Amazon.com under the category: "Save Social Security Books."

Most notably successful, though, is a former secretary of commerce, Peter Peterson. Petersonwhose organization, the Concord Coalition, hides his ultraconservative agendais an anti-Social Security zealot. Presenting his Concord Coalition as an organization disinterestedly devoted to fiscal integrity and balanced budgets was a major triumph. Among other things, it led the Clinton administration to give the Concord Coalition joint authority along with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) to administer each regional forum that led up to the 1998 White House Conference on Social Security.

The success of the war against Social Security thus far can be gauged by the terms of the debate. On all sides, the question is, "How can Social Security be saved?" We almost never hear, "Is it really in trouble?" Even the AARP, in defending the system, accepts without question the projection that the current level of funding will be adequate only until 2032. Rarely is there an acknowledgment that the projection itself is highly questionable and that more optimisticand more realisticprojections give indication of no trouble at all.

There have been a few voices of reason raised to counter the adverse propaganda, but very few. This book joins those few, but it also goes beyond them. In addition to explaining why Social Security is sound, it documents the covert war against social insurance that dates back to the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935. It explains how and why, after a long period of dormancy, the opposition emerged slowly from the underground in the 1960s and 1970s and burst forth from the shadows with a vengeance in the 1980s.

If this book succeeds in revealing to the public the true nature of the opposition to Social Security and in rekindling confidence in the strength and soundness of the program, it will have been worth writing.

If it succeeds in revealing to the public the true nature of the opposition and in halting further attacks on Social Security, whether by eliminating the opposition or by just driving it back underground, Social Security and Its Enemies will have achieved its purpose.

Max J. Skidmore

Many people have encouraged me in this study and have supplied me with information; I thank them all. I wish especially to thank my wife, Charlene, for so many thingsincluding the wise suggestion that Westview Press would be an excellent choice as a publisher. She was right. I have worked with many editors, none better than Leo Wiegman. I especially thank him, as well as Kristin Milavec, project editor, and Silvine Marbury Farnell, the copy editor; they are outstanding.

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