On the save Social Security boondoggle ...

I haven't written a thing about this, and there are many who understand it far better than I. But one thing seems certain, the Bush administration, as a hallmark of his second term, fully intends to try to convince the American people that Social Security is approaching full-blown crisis stage and that if we don't do something fast (as in privatize so money managers can skim huge percentages off the accounts), then the whole thing will fall apart. This assertion avoids the uncomfortable fact that Social Security will be able to pay out full benefits without any adjustments until 2042.

Just as he sold the American people on the Iraq war, Bush is content to distort, lie, obfuscate and play the shell game in order to get the public on his side. Luckily, not as many of the fish are biting. The AARP has come out against Bush's plan, and now there are a number of Republicans who are lining up to say "Hell No."

Here, in the New York Times, Paul Krugman tells us what happens when such a system is privatized.