Stinker

David Brooks descends into self parody in his latest excerpt from the Heritage Society talking points (poorly disguised as an NYT column). His theme is that Bush's SS plan is a call for shared sacrifice of the type Democrats have repeatedly asked for.

Sometimes you had to walk through Democratic precincts in a gas mask, the lofty rhetoric was so thick.

The gas mask won't help David, that stench is your own hypocrisy.

Over the past few weeks, the president has called their bluff. By embracing the progressive indexing of Social Security benefits, the president has asked us to make a shared sacrifice for the common good. He's asking middle- and upper-class folks to accept benefit cuts so there will be money for the people who are really facing poverty.

He has asked us to redistribute money down the income scale. Why should programs for children and families be strangled so Donald Trump can get bigger benefit checks?

Pretending people who make $60k are rich like Donald Trump is one of the more tedious Republican tricks. Under Bush's plan, the guy making $60k will take a big hit in his SS check. For Donald Trump, Bush, Cheney, Paris Hilton and probably even David Brooks, the cut in SS benefits is tiny compared to the huge Bush tax cuts they got.

Shared sacrifice Republican style = big tax cuts for the rich while everybody in the middle class gets much, much less.

UPDATE: As usual, Paul Krugman says it better in this NYT column, with some numbers, but minus my personal vitriol regardings his fellow columnist.

Hell hath no fury like a scammer foiled. The card shark caught marking the deck, the auto dealer caught resetting a used car's odometer, is rarely contrite. On the contrary, they're usually angry, and they lash out at their intended marks, crying hypocrisy.

And so it is with those who would privatize Social Security. They didn't get away with scare tactics, or claims to offer something for nothing. Now they're accusing their opponents of coddling the rich and not caring about the poor.

And some numbers

Suppose you're earning $60,000 a year. On average, Mr. Bush cut taxes for workers like you by about $1,000 per year. But by 2045 the Bush Social Security plan would cut benefits for workers like you by about $6,500 per year. Not a very good deal.

Suppose, finally, that you're making $1 million a year. You received a tax cut worth about $50,000 per year. By 2045 the Bush plan would reduce benefits for people like you by about $9,400 per year. We have a winner!

But read the whole thing.