Mound City

Once again, Josh Marshall is on top of the Social Security debate. He makes an excellent point on what has to happen next with the Social Security debate:

.This is key to the entire unfolding debate: do Democrats start looking for ways to ameliorate the damage caused by the president's phase-out plan or do they try to push the debate further on to why Social Security is good for America and should be retained. (Needless to say, whether Democrats do start to soften their position will have a direct and immediate effect on the willingness on Republicans to get back on board with the president's phase-out program.)

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The difference of opinion and values is pretty straightforward: Democrats support Social Security, the president supports private accounts. What is there to do but to find out where everyone stands?

This is a point I have been trying to get across to people I have spoken to about the Social Security issue, this is not a fiscal but an ideological debate.

If Democrats allow the Republicans to keep the debate in the fiscal realm then they have little chance in making the point that a system of private accounts is completely different then the Social Security system.

The debate needs to be kept alive so that everyone understands what Social Security is and what the Republican phase-out plan actually means. The Republicans are counting on trillion dollar sums and infinite projections to intimidate people from learning about Social Security and thus understanding that the Republican plan is not Social Security but a government-administered retirement account system.