Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus...But Only One!
A commentary by the Publisher of FAIRisFAIR.org

Make no mistake about it, there are some people who would like to see nothing more than the full dismantling of America's social safety net. Ever since Franklin Roosevelt created the Social Security system to provide basic financial security to all Americans, they have been working to destroy it. They were even more enraged when Lyndon Johnson introduced Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960's to provide basic heath services to the elderly and poor. While these self-interested people hate these programs, the public loves them. They were (and still are) massively popular, and any politician who risked trying to alter them found himself out of a job after the next re-election. So the egoists got wise.

Instead of trying to cut the programs outright, they would try to undermine their funding by cutting taxes. It was an approach called the “two Santa Claus” policy¹. Rather than directly attack the safety net and jeopardize their chances at re-election, they would cut the taxes that paid for the safety net. Once they gained control of Congress, that's exactly what they started doing. But the lack of funding for these programs didn't undermine the public's support for them -- so rather than risk losing an election, the idealogues ran up huge budget deficits.

A seven-year-old child possesses the math skills necessary to see this doesn't work. By running up budget deficits, they are delaying the costs of this reckless policy by adding to the national debt. Aside from the thoughtlessness of destroying America's social safety net, it's obivious that this plan is also fiscally irresponsible.

Realistically, there can only be one Santa Claus. Either you cut taxes and eliminate the social safety net, or you keep taxes where they are and provide some basic measure of security for all Americans. Everyone would like to save a couple of bucks on their taxes, but society is better off when everyone enjoys a basic measure of social security.

Why do these people want to destroy America's social safety net? They talk about the “ownership society”, but that's just code for “you're on your own.” If you make a mistake in investing for your retirement, the “ownership society” would just mean a bleak and impoverished future. Social Security and Medicare can mean the difference between life and death. These programs are designed to catch you if you fall -- to keep you out of poverty. It's a national insurance policy against hard times. It's a way of helping every American when they need it the most; and Christmas time is a time for sharing and a time for helping others. Social Security doesn't need to be privatized. It just needs everyone to everyone to pay their fair share.