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Social Security Reform Thursday: Week Twenty-Three.

Thursdays are good days for reform, because they fall between Wednesdays and Fridays.

That's why WILLisms.com offers a chart or graph, every Thursday, pertinent to Social Security reform.

This week's topic:

Support for the DeMint-Ryan Lockbox Plan.

Much of the case against Social Security reform rests on the alleged fact that reform is not popular. It's the third rail of politics. You touch it, you get zapped.

Left-wing interests groups have mobilized their members to write letters to their members of Congress, to hold signs like this...

... and otherwise mobilize to oppose necessary Social Security reform. A reformed system would be bad for the left, politically. After all, reform would be an admission of the program's inherent structural failure; reform would give Bush a "legacy" type of political victory; and reform would, over time, create more citizens naturally inclined toward free enterprise Republicanism.

But, over and over (and over and over and over and over and over and over and over ), polling data show support for market-oriented reform. When people are informed of the actual facts on Social Security reform, they overwhelmingly support the Republican brand of reform.

The latest (.pdf), from Dutko Research (via Social Security Choice blog):

If there is no reform in 2006, those responsible for the obstruction will be held accountable by the voters. Americans understand there is a problem, or a crisis, or a looming crisis, or a whatever you want to term it. If Congress fails to do anything to solve the problem, Americans will be disgusted. They will only take out their frustration on the Democrats if Republicans give reform their best shot. If too many RINO-types join the Democrats in opposing the meaningful reform that Americans want, Congressional Republicans will see no benefit.

Gary Andres explains the progression of the Social Security reform effort rather well:

The flow of the Social Security debate, while not rapid, is following a rational course. First, President Bush tried to convince voters about the nature of the problem. Polling data suggests he succeeded. For example, a Dutko Research late May survey found 81 percent saying Social Security needs change to remain solvent. If a large majority of voters now perceive a problem, it's logical that voters rank "strengthening Social Security" as the top domestic priority for congressional action.

Even with the Supreme Court scuffle, even with everything else on the legislative agenda, even with developments in the war on terror, if Congress comes up empty-handed, the folks, young and old, won't be happy at all.

Previous Reform Thursday graphics can be seen here:

-Week One (Costs Exceed Revenues).
-Week Two (Social Security Can't Pay Promised Benefits).
-Week Three (Americans Getting Older).
-Week Three, bonus (The Templeton Curve).
-Week Four (Fewer Workers, More Retirees).
-Week Five (History of Payroll Tax Base Increases).
-Week Six (Seniors Living Longer).
-Week Six, bonus (Less Workers, More Beneficiaries).
-Week Seven (History of Payroll Tax Increases).
-Week Seven, bonus (Personal Accounts Do Achieve Solvency).
-Week Eight (Forty Year Trend Of Increasing Mandatory Spending).
-Week Nine (Diminishing Benefits Sans Reform).
-Week Ten (Elderly Dependence On Social Security).
-Week Eleven (Entitlement Spending Eating The Budget).
-Week Twelve (Benefit Comparison, Bush's Plan versus No Plan).
-Week Thirteen (Younger Americans and Lifecycle Funds).
-Week Fourteen (The Thrift Savings Plan).
-Week Fifteen (Understanding Progressive Indexing).
-Week Sixteen (The Graying of America).
-Week Seventeen (Debunking Myths).
-Week Eighteen (Debunking Myths).
-Week Nineteen (Reform Needed Sooner Rather Than Later).
-Week Twenty (Global Success With Personal Accounts).
-Week Twenty-One (GROW Accounts: Stopping The Raid).
-Week Twenty-Two (Millions of Lockboxes).

Tune into WILLisms.com each Thursday for more important graphical data supporting Social Security reform. We'll address more myths in future installments.

UPDATE:

OTB Traffic Jam.

Posted by Will Franklin · 7 July 2005 10:52 AM

Comments

Posted by: Zsa Zsa at July 7, 2005 11:53 AM