Glenn Beck wants us to send our pensions to Argentina
It's 2004 all over again. This little gem of a clip features Glenn Beck, Cato Institute's mouthpiece Chris Edwards and Freakonomics author Steven Dubner gnawing on how Social Security "must be privatized." For the children, of course.
Ordinarily I'm not a big fan of taking what Glenn Beck says and deconstructing it, simply because I believe what Glenn Beck says is utterly irrelevant and without enough merit to give it any attention. But this clip grabbed me because all three of these yahoos spoke as if they were granted authority from on high with regard to the future of people's pensions. Not only were they completely mistaken, they turned their arguments against health care reform into arguments FOR privatizing Social Security, serving them up with a large dollop of unwarranted certitude.
Donning my spit-proof suit to debunk some of the obvious nonsense they spewed into the airwaves...
1. Wall Street is more trustworthy than the US Government
Yes, Chris Edwards really said that. Actually, what he said is this:
"I think there's a lot less market risk than there is government risk."
He said it like everyone knows it's true, except there's not one iota of truth to it. We live in a country with an established federal government that has been in existence for about 235 years now. Since 1942, citizens eligible for Social Security have received monthly payments right on time (even by direct deposit if they want!), with small increases for cost of living adjustments. For anyone receiving Social Security, there's no doubt in their mind about when they'll receive their next check, how much it will be, and whether the check is good.
On the other hand, Edwards and Dubner say, "Hey! The stock market is above 11,000, so you people who lost your shirts in the last Wall Street raid? C'mon in, place your full confidence in the young turks of the stock market for your retirement security!!"
Of course, Edwards speaks with the authority of one who would love to take an axe to every social safety net this nation has in the name of conservative, small government values. If he states with authority that the markets are less risky than the government, he does so from his fantasy rather than looking at the government we have right now.
