Reply #21: And they've been at it for a long time [View All]

[JHB]

See this article from 10 years ago(!):

The Myth of Social Security's Imminent Collapse
By: Doug Henwood
Left Business Observer, July/August 1995

Thirty years ago, when Barry Goldwater proposed making Social Security voluntary, he was dismissed as a lunatic. Now, however, the radical transformation of Social Security--essentially its privatization--is the consensus among the political class and the pundits who serve them.

The strategy of the privatizers is proving quite successful. Sow doubts about the future solvency of the system. Chip away its near-universal political support by taxing benefits of "affluent" retirees, periodically lowering the definition of affluence. Encourage the "affluent" retirees of the future to provide for themselves, because of the system's wobbliness. And eventually turn the public pension system into welfare for the elderly poor--an easy target for cuts--while leaving the middle class and rich to fend for themselves. This isn't only happening in the U.S.; it's happening around the globe.
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http://www.globalaging.org/pension/us/socialsec/henwood.htm