Web Letters: William Greider Responds

There is no question that Greider is right and that at best Walker is distorting the facts. The question is "who will tell the people?" I have been trying for ten years, and you can find good information on AngryBear.blogspot.com.

But the media seem to have bought the Peterson line completely and the politicians, even the more or less good ones, have been seduced into accepting the basic argument as a starting point.

Social Security is not facing a "crisis." It is not even "government spending." It is an insurance program for workers paid for by workers. If the time comes that current taxes will not pay for current benefits, it is a simple matter to raise the tax--which is really just an insurance premium. The best projection is that some time after 2040 it may be necessary for workers to pay an extra $20 a week out of a paycheck that will by then be $300 dollars per week bigger than today's. And they will get their money back in the form of unreduced benefits over a life expectancy in retirement an average of six years longer than today's.

To Walker's scary numbers you have to make a lot of assumptions, the worst of which is that people won't pay for their longer life or better medical care but will just somehow run up a bill for decades.

With all respect The Nation does not reach that many people. We need to find a way to explain this fraud to the masses.

dale coberly

Corvallis, OR