Michael Gerson's Flawed Supposition

by Michael Sean Winters

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I never took the LSAT and avoided the GRE by getting into grad school via the seminary. (Breathing? We'll take him!) But, I could spot the flaw in Michael Gerson's logic in this morning's Washington Post. Gerson writes, "Third, some House leaders want to begin laying the foundation for entitlement reform, since large, unfunded entitlement commitments are the main cause of the American fiscal crisis." Hmmm.

Some of us think that the inability to raise taxes on the super-rich is the main cause of America's fiscal crisis. As debate about the proposals for reducing the deficit take hold, it is a little too pro-Wall Street for my tastes to think we need to cut back on Social Security benefits while failing to enact a new, higher rate on zillionaires. Raising the retirement age makes a kind of anatomical sense: we are living longer. But, cutting benefits so that Bill Gates can keep more of his cash is ridiculous.

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