Suppose We Privatized SocSec and Medicare

what then?

Margaret Brennan dug at House Speaker McCarthy on Meet the Press on Sunday to get him to say he’d cut Social Security and Medicare.

Of course he denied it. Third Rail, and all that.

Now, of course, anyone with half a brain knows that Social Security and Medicare would be much better if privatized. Even if, to make everyone feel better, we made contributions to our individual plans mandatory.

It’s a matter of generational justice. A retired generation is supported by the working generation. One way or another they are supported by the sweat of the workers’ brow. We old’uns can save money in our working years and create jobs for the young’uns and then retire of the income created by the work of the young’uns. Or we can tax the young’uns and make them pay directly for the leisure and the end-of-life health care of the old’uns. My idea of justice is that the income of the retirees should depend on the jobs their savings created for the young’uns. That’s what I think.

But, supposing that the burden of Social Security and Medicare were lifted — and right now Social Security costs 23 percent of federal spending and Medicare costs 15 percent of federal spending, out of a total of $5.8 trillion. So, Social Security and Medicare, together, use of 38 percent of the federal budget.

Imagine if we freed the American people from that burden!

But it ain’t quite that simple. Because we have to deal with Milton Friedman’s comment that government spending is always as high as politically possible. And government revenue is always as high as politically possible.

Therefore, I would argue, if we eliminated Social Security and Medicare and privatized them, the government would merely use the revenue for something else.

Expressed in percent GDP, Social Security and Medicare amount to 8.5 percent of the economy. Frankly, I do not want the government spending that freed-up 8.5 percent on some damn fool wokery.

But that’s just me. Maybe you have a better idea.

For instance, if all that money were freed up we would have more money for Reparations. Yum.