Conservative Crisis

I gotta hand it to Josh Marshall. He lays things out so clearly that even an idiot like me can understand them. Take for instance his nice summary of the Social Security shortfall crisis that Republicans love to stroke off to versus the much more serious and completely fiscally responsible 100 year military presence McCain and Republicans want in Iraq.

According to Republicans, Social Security is in a shortfall crisis. For as long as I can remember, which stretches back to the early 90s, Social Security has been one of the hot button topics Republicans claim to have a grasp on. The crisis to them is that soon, very soon, the SSA is going to run out of money to pay retirees. According to the Congressional Budget Office that date comes sometime in 2040. So in 32 years if no adjustments are made to Social Security there won't be enough money to pay out. I'm not suggesting that adjustments and tweaks don't need to be made to Social Security, far from it exactly. I'm just pointing out that even if we do nothing and just sit on our hands it will take about 40 years before the Republican crisis hits. That doesn't sound like a soon approaching crisis to me at all.

But let's look at the McCain Doctrine that calls for an American presence in Iraq for at least another 100 years. According to the CBO, a 77 year presence in Iraq would cost $3 trillion dollars. Keep in mind that's just for a peaceful presence, which McCain says if our troops our dying we can't leave, but if they aren't then we can stay forever. Over that same 77 year period the CBO predicted Social Security shortfall would be $4.3 trillion. To Republicans this shortfall is so serious and in such disarray that it must be fixed immediately by doing away with the entire system. But war forever in Iraq is so sane and so patriotic that it can never be questioned especially in terms of fiscal responsbility.

Now as Josh Marshall notes, the SSA uses three different projections for long term solvency. Under the most intermediate plan, the one generally used by the government, the SSA will still be running a SURPLUS in 2085 and not a shortfall. That means the so-called impending crisis of Social Security would still be in the black, if left alone, whereas John McCain's war in Iraq would still be raging and costing $3 trillion.

Republicans, neocons and so-called conservatives will leave this alone. It makes too much sense for them to actually try and tackle it. They know as well as anyone else that the media establishment wouldn't dare pick up on this because that would mean less time on Rev. Wright and Miley Cyrus. So McCain and his GOP will get away with warmongering and make believe impending doom. Probably never once being questioned about his own words and the cost of those words. And we can't forget either that the last 8 years of Bush incompetency and complete fiscal irresponsibility can never be mentioned when discussing McCain as well. Instead Social Security that could possibly be running a SURPLUS in 2085 is doomed but war in Iraq forever is serious talk.