A 'realistic' way to put this opt-out proposal to the voters would be something like this; 1.) If we do nothing to fix social security, retirees will have a 20% cut in benefits. 2.) And if we allow some young people to opt-out of social security, then retirees will have a 30% cut in benefits for the next 40 years. Now go to a retirement community near you and pose this above scenario and see how many seniors are 'in favor' of allowing young people to opt out of social security.

A 'realistic' way to put this opt-out proposal to the voters would be something like this; 1.) If we do nothing to fix social security, retirees will have a 20% cut in benefits. 2.) And if we allow some young people to opt-out of social security, then retirees will have a 30% cut in benefits for the next 40 years. Now go to a retirement community near you and pose this above scenario and see how many seniors are 'in favor' of allowing young people to opt out of social security.

A 'realistic' way to put this opt-out proposal to the voters would be something like this; 1.) If we do nothing to fix social security, retirees will have a 20% cut in benefits. 2.) And if we allow some young people to opt-out of social security, then retirees will have a 30% cut in benefits for the next 40 years. Now go to a retirement community near you and pose this above scenario and see how many seniors are 'in favor' of allowing young people to opt out of social security.

Republicans often say, "At least Bush attempted to reform Social Security." Can any Republican here explain to me how allowing young people to opt-out of social security into their own private plan helps relieve the coming entitlement crisis? Allowing young people to opt-out means that there is less money to pay people who are retired or are nearing retirement. This opt-out change doesn't help to relieve the social security spending burden until the young people who have paid into it, retire, like 40 years from now. For those collecting social security checks the next 40 years, there is less money in the pay-out pool.

Republicans often say, "At least Bush attempted to reform Social Security." Can any Republican here explain to me how allowing young people to opt-out of social security into their own private plan helps relieve the coming entitlement crisis? Allowing young people to opt-out means that there is less money to pay people who are retired or are nearing retirement. This opt-out change doesn't help to relieve the social security spending burden until the young people who have paid into it, retire, like 40 years from now. For those collecting social security checks the next 40 years, there is less money in the pay-out pool.

Republicans often say, "At least Bush attempted to reform Social Security." Can any Republican here explain to me how allowing young people to opt-out of social security into their own private plan helps relieve the coming entitlement crisis? Allowing young people to opt-out means that there is less money to pay people who are retired or are nearing retirement. This opt-out change doesn't help to relieve the social security spending burden until the young people who have paid into it, retire, like 40 years from now. For those collecting social security checks the next 40 years, there is less money in the pay-out pool.

A Republican Party plank says 'young people can opt out of social security and have their own private account.' The other half of the sales pitch says 'and anyone retired or nearing retirement will not miss one single penny that is owed them and ....no one will see their taxes go up either.' Allowing young people to opt out of social security means there is less money to pay retired people. Young people with private accounts will not be retiring for 40 years. In that ENTIRE meantime, the shortfall of money needed to pay seniors benefits is even MORE. Allowing young people to opt out exacerbates the looming social security shortfall. It doesn't alleviate squat! It's just another feel-good Republican measure.

A Republican Party plank says 'young people can opt out of social security and have their own private account.' The other half of the sales pitch says 'and anyone retired or nearing retirement will not miss one single penny that is owed them and ....no one will see their taxes go up either.' Allowing young people to opt out of social security means there is less money to pay retired people. Young people with private accounts will not be retiring for 40 years. In that ENTIRE meantime, the shortfall of money needed to pay seniors benefits is even MORE. Allowing young people to opt out exacerbates the looming social security shortfall. It doesn't alleviate squat! It's just another feel-good Republican measure.

And I imagine a Democratic officeholder would have a harder time explaining why he named his offspring "Marx" than a GOP incumbent would in rationalizing naming his kid "Rand."

The GOP cult of Ayn Rand is both revealing and mystifying. On the one hand, Rand's tough guy, every-man-for-himself posturing is a natural fit because it puts a philosophical gloss on the latent sociopathy so prevalent among the hard right. On the other, Rand exclaimed at every opportunity that she was a militant atheist who felt nothing but contempt for Christianity. Apparently, the ignorance of most fundamentalist "values voters" means that GOP candidates who enthuse over Rand at the same time they thump their Bibles never have to explain this stark contradiction.