Social Security Analogy

Now that Bush has admitted that the non-existent "plan" to "save" Social Security would in fact do nothing, and now that Dick Cheney has admitted that the government would have to borrow TRILLIONS of dollars to fund the privatization scheme, I'd like to present you with an analogy that I heard on the Al Franken show today. Michael Kinsley said it, I'm paraphrasing. (Realize, now, that if we can borrow TRILLIONS of dollars to make some Wall Street stockbrokers rich, then we could also just put those TRILLIONS into Social Security...ensuring its solvency.)

Here it is: Imagine you're crawling through the desert, nearly dead of thirst. You collapse at the feet of George W. Bush and say "Mr. President, I need some water!" He says, "Well, how about some lemonade instead? It'll quench your thirst a lot better than water will!" You agree--any port in a storm!--and he hands you a packet of lemonade mix, saying "All you need to do is add some water to that and you'll be good to go."