Social Security Framing

I have some overviews posts on social security coming up sometime in the (hopefully) near future, but I want to take the time out to take a note of the issue of the framing of this debate (“framing” being such a big buzzword after the election and all)

I’m not too sure about this… I understand the need for packaging the problem of social security, and in that sense this does pretty well in telling a simple story that runs counter to the conservatives’ line that the whole system is broken.

However, this sort of line seems to have one real flaw: the admission of a problem. And when you admit there is a problem, then you need to offer your own solution. Now, we have multiple easy ways to deal with this “problem” (like axing some of Bush’s tax cuts, for instance), but you don’t want this to turn into a choice between our plan and theirs. I think the real distinction should be whether or not there is an actual problem... and right now, there just isn’t. Sure, there might be one some 35-40 years in the distant future, but that keeps getting pushed back (and probably will be pushed back again this year) so why even entertain the issue when we have so many immediate issues facing us right now?