Solutions in Search of Problems
Alex Zakson
May 26, 2005
The Bush Administration solution: Sadam Hussein must be eliminated.
The conceived problem: Hussein is bad for Iraq, bad for the Middle East and bad for the USA. He has WMD, and is well on his way to developing nuclear weapons. He has links with al Qaeda.
When the UN Security Council declined to back Bush, he and his advisors decided that unilateral action was called for. They hypothesized that the war would be short; the Iraqi’s would greet our military with open arms (and flowers), and the Iraqi oil revenue would pay for the reconstruction.
The actual result: There were no WMD and no al Qaeda link. The war has cost many American lives and disrupted countless American and Iraqi lives. Americans were not embraced as liberators, and taxpayers have so far spent over 100 billion dollars, with no end in sight.
The Bush Administration Solution: Social Security must be dismantled.
The conceived problem: Social Security will cease to be self-supporting in less than a decade. The government will have to repay the trillions of dollars it has borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund. Without raising SS taxes, it may have to use regular tax revenue or cut benefits. It is not compatible with strict conservative doctrines.
Disregarding the fact that it is a societal solution to taking care of the less fortunate, and without exploring how to make Social Security financially viable, Bush decided to replace all or part of it with personal retirement accounts. To the Administration’s surprise the public has failed to embrace dismembering Social Security. Bush is not deterred; unilateral action is called for.
The expected result: A change to personal retirement accounts will disrupt countless American lives, will not solve the Social Security program’s financial viability, will not be enthusiastically embraced by Americans, and will cost the taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. The Administration is wrong again, on all counts.
The conceived problem: Hussein is bad for Iraq, bad for the Middle East and bad for the USA. He has WMD, and is well on his way to developing nuclear weapons. He has links with al Qaeda.
When the UN Security Council declined to back Bush, he and his advisors decided that unilateral action was called for. They hypothesized that the war would be short; the Iraqi’s would greet our military with open arms (and flowers), and the Iraqi oil revenue would pay for the reconstruction.
The actual result: There were no WMD and no al Qaeda link. The war has cost many American lives and disrupted countless American and Iraqi lives. Americans were not embraced as liberators, and taxpayers have so far spent over 100 billion dollars, with no end in sight.
The Bush Administration Solution: Social Security must be dismantled.
The conceived problem: Social Security will cease to be self-supporting in less than a decade. The government will have to repay the trillions of dollars it has borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund. Without raising SS taxes, it may have to use regular tax revenue or cut benefits. It is not compatible with strict conservative doctrines.
Disregarding the fact that it is a societal solution to taking care of the less fortunate, and without exploring how to make Social Security financially viable, Bush decided to replace all or part of it with personal retirement accounts. To the Administration’s surprise the public has failed to embrace dismembering Social Security. Bush is not deterred; unilateral action is called for.
The expected result: A change to personal retirement accounts will disrupt countless American lives, will not solve the Social Security program’s financial viability, will not be enthusiastically embraced by Americans, and will cost the taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. The Administration is wrong again, on all counts.
Print
Email
