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To: Marc Brands Liberty <marc.brands.liberty@gmx.net>
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From: Marc Brands Liberty <marc.brands.liberty@gmx.net>
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Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2003 11:29:03 -0400
Subject: [libnetd] Liberty: -- Solution -- Offering a Social Security option.
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First Step To Liberty (Part 3 of 3)

This is a three part series in which we look at less radical ways
towards achieving liberty that most Americans can agree with.
-- 

Give Americans the option of choosing between Social Security or
non-governmental savings accounts. 

Don't advocate ending Social Security. Too many Americans hear that
and worry that their parents and grandparents -- or someone else's
parents and grandparents -- would end up destitute and living on the
street without a Social Security safety net.   

Instead, give people the choice. In exchange for giving up any claim
on Social Security benefits when they retire, Americans would opt out
of the system -- and never have to pay FICA taxes again. Their money
would be their own, to invest as they see fit.   

This idea was originally floated by MSNBC columnist Deroy Murdock in a
November 1998 op-ed column for the Washington Times. In it, he
suggested that the Republican Party should offer a number of "free
choice" proposals -- for the tax code, Social Security, education, and
health care.    

Of course, being a Republican, many of Murdock's suggestions didn't
really reduce the size of government. For example, for taxes, he
proposed allowing people to choose between today's complicated tax
code and a simpler (but equally costly) flat tax.   

But Murdock made some interesting points. For example, he noted that
when Chile switched over to a largely private retirement system in
1981 -- and gave workers the choice of staying in the government
program -- 90% chose the free-market alternative.

Currently, there are 154 million Americans paying into the Social
Security system. If what happened in Chile happened here, 138.6
million of them would switch over to free-market retirement programs.
Sure, given the stock market's ongoing swan dive, that number might be
smaller. But as soon as the next bull market arrives, we'd almost
certainly see a massive outflow from the tottering Social Security
system.      

The beauty of such an optional system, wrote Murdock, is that "those
who like big-government solutions can remain tethered to the status
quo. [So politicians] will find it increasingly difficult to argue
that citizens should be denied even the chance to change their
relationship with Uncle Sam."    

As for the argument that opting out of the government-run retirement
system would "threaten" the program, Murdock asks: Why? "Surely if
these public schemes were so splendid, Americans would not flee them
in droves."   

Of course, the Republican Party ignored Murdock's suggestion, proving
again that they are just the "right wing" of the big-government party.
We could be smarter -- and give Americans a choice that millions would
eagerly embrace.   


-----
Source: LP News


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