I rarely write about politics, but in this case I feel compelled.

President Bush is working hard to convince the American people that we need to reform Social Security. It seems indisputable by everyone that by 2040, Social Security will be unable to fund 100% of what has been promised in benefits. Something must be done to fix that so people can receive the benefits they have been promised.

Here’s the part I don’t understand. President Bush is proposing that we allow younger workers, those under 54 years old, to take up to 4% of the money that they normally would be paying into Social Security as payroll taxes and invest it in personal accounts. How does that fix the problem with Social Security? By some estimates that will take away trillions of dollars from Social Security. How does taking even more money away from Social Security balance the income versus expense problem for Social Security? It seems to me that it simply makes the problem worse — not better. Am I missing something? Is there some kind of “new math” at work here or what?

–Pete