By Hannah Thoreson
This post originally appeared in Western Free Press on Aug. 2, 2011
Most of the discussion about the debt ceiling bills working their way through Congress has been focused purely on the numbers. Little of the debate has centered around what it appears that voters may care more about, which is where the cuts will be made.
Entitlement reform is considered the holy grail of conservative politics, just as its converse, universal health care, is the ultimate goal of the progressive left. Those in the GOP pushing ideas like the Ryan Budget would do well to show an understanding of the problems individuals other than the Treasury Secretary are presently facing. This does not mean that the cause of entitlement reform should be abandoned; rather, instead of being explained exclusively in terms of government spending, conservatives should go on the offensive and explain how regular people could benefit from changes.
Liberals are giddy and licking their lips over the prospect of a bluer Congressional map as budgetary realities put a squeeze on social spending. Conservatives should explain that having the government provide for citizens’ retirements can be unjust and lead to lost opportunities.
Lower-income workers, say, those working for an hourly wage with meager benefits, often remain employed for years, sometimes even decades, longer than their civil servant or white-collar professional counterparts. They continue to lose part of their paycheck to payroll taxes for Social Security while their peers retire and begin collecting the benefits funded by those still working. How would you feel if you were doing hard, backbreaking work to fund your well-off cousin’s cross-country RV trip? It’s likely a question the political class does not want to think about and finds uncomfortable, but the answer may be worth pursuing. For lower-income workers that may never be able to retire and collect benefits, these programs and the taxes to support them likely seem unfair.
A similar line of reasoning has given the GOP an 11% advantage among 18-29 year old white voters heading into the 2012 election season. Democrats hoping for an easy repeat of 2008 with this demographic will be surprised to learn that students across the country have begun to learn the facts about the national debt, and who will eventually be footing the bill. Fiscal conservatives such as Governor Mitch Daniels and Rep. Paul Ryan are viewed with enthusiasm by young Americans looking to avoid becoming indentured servants to government debt. Students for Solvency recently released a dramatic ad showing a baby being thrown over a cliff representing the national debt. Young Americans are very open to arguments about curbing the growth of spending on entitlement programs for the simple reason that it is in their rational self interest to do so. The key is proving the same thing to enough of the electorate to gain political support for reform.
The programs can also appear hurtful to those who can or would otherwise be able to invest their own money. There are a lot of people who could have become stock market millionaires investing their own funds. Many others would simply live more comfortably in retirement had they put the money in their own 401(k) accounts. These people should be highly sympathetic to arguments relating the opportunities they are missing out on.
So it’s clear that there are good reasons for individuals to take an interest in serious entitlement reform. However, the GOP may struggle to gain the political traction needed to implement the reforms absent real examples of how the public stands to benefit from the changes. The economy is still looking pretty grim to most Americans; asking future retirees to give up seemingly guaranteed benefits in exchange for nothing certain is going to be a hard sell. Turning a deaf ear to this reality only plays into the worst stereotypes the left has about conservatives. The only way to convince Americans that curbing the growth of entitlement spending is necessary is to prove to them that it is in their best interest as individuals, rich and poor, young and old.
Links:
Pew Research Center polling data: http://people-press.org/2011/07/22/gop-makes-big-gains-among-white-voters/
