The Other McCain

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Arguments To Spike The Heart Of The Entitlement Vampire

Posted on | April 5, 2011 | 8 Comments

by Smitty

The mighty Veronique de Rugy posts about some horrid DCCC work against Ryan, and ends with:

Now, how can we make people understand that entitlement programs are not an entitlement? How do we reach out to them? 

Here are a few thoughts of mine:

  • The Math: they are a ponzi scheme. The demographics fail. Too many women too cool for motherhood, too many men confused about their wedding tackle.
  • The Experiment: the American experiment allows for leaders like FDR to try things, but wise people do not deny The Math. It is time to do something different.
  • The Constitution: the entitlements were never a federal task, and we should disabuse ourselves of this 10th Amendment violation posthaste. The argument that states cannot fund entitlements is only admission of deeper problems.
  • The News: point out how detrimental entitlements are the world over.
  • The Pride: point out that entitlements are velvet handcuffs that revert adults into whimpering babes.
  • The Practical: as Insty has famously observed, “I’ll believe it’s a crisis when the people telling me it’s a crisis start acting like it’s a crisis.” How do conservatives do that? I would say that some organization like Cato or Heritage or FreedomWorks (or a joint project of all of the above) set up a non-profit specifically targeting entitlements, where entitlement recipients can just contribute their monthly checks, or a portion, and younger folks can pledge to do so. The proceeds could then be used to advertise against federal entitlements, fund research into transition options off the entitlement crack, and maybe even push an anti-entitlement candidate or two.  The head ‘splosions on the Left when common people reject their Progressive State of America overlords promises to be delicious.  Alternately, the country may be too far gone and need to be scuttled, but I can’t get my mind around that possibility as more than theoretical.

I think this last argument is the strongest: it’s all so much talk until you pony up the frogskins.
No sane young people I know expect to rely even slightly on Social Security.
Overall, the struggle is going to be long and arduous and require a blend of arguments.

Linked by That Mr. G Guy.
Also, marfdrat, at the end of a post addressing Rep. Ryan’s excellent ideas.
A third: Subterranean Defender of Liberty.
A fourth: Political Junkie Mom.

Category: Progressivism

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