Mood:
on fireTopic: "Rubio's Cube"(6)
One would think that Frodo was an Iraqi journalist. That is, when his shoe went whizzing by the head of Marco Rubio, on Frodo's black-and-white, appearing in debate last evening with his opponents for the Senate from Florida. He did not lie, mind you, but he presented, as facts, that which was obfuscated or ignored.
Rubio noted, as fact, that this is the first year that Social Security has paid out more than it has collected. He indicated, as fact, that if this situation continued at this rate predictions are that somewhere between the years 2027 and 2041 Social Security would be unable to meet its obligations. This, of course, leads to the assertion that America's seniors would be left high and dry.
For the record, asserts Frodo, let us note that the "Baby Boom" generation, the largest increase in population that we have ever experienced, commenced in 1945, with the end of World War II. It should be noted that 2010 minus 1945 equals 65. This number is significant because it represents the age of those who today are first, or eldest, among the "Baby Boomers." It is, as Rubio noted, also the first year the Social Security trust system ran at a deficit.
Carrying the thought forward, let us further note that the population continued to expand significantly until about 1960, when the "Baby Boom" effectively ended. If one were to, correctly adds Frodo, assume that the Social Security trust system ran at a deficit during each of those years when the "Baby Boomers" hit age 65, then the effects of the population growth would end in or about 2025. This is, of course, two years before, even under the most dire of estimates, the Social Security trust system would reach the projected inability to meet its obligations.
What Mario didn't say was that, given prudent management, and responsible fiduciary performance, the Social Security trust system will neither run out of money, nor will it fail to meet its obligations to America's seniors and disabled, ever.
That is the "politics of fear," and it is why Frodo threw his shoe at the smarmy little turd. Frodo is willing to bet that Rubio is a Texan.
