"So just we’re clear: Paul Ryan’s main signature policy is to change Medicare from a defined benefit to a defined contribution health care plan." Josh Marshall
Those of us over a certain age recall when corporate America wanted to rid itself of its pension burdens (which it had put on itself to escape paying higher wages in the first place), and touted the 401(k) as a far better, private alternative that would allow workers to share in the gains in the equities markets.
Sound familiar?
Most people who recall defined benefit plans (and, I guess, lots of younger workers in fields where regular pensions persisted, like government, education and healthcare), and who have a 401(k) understand that having an account with a couple hundred grand in it -- an account that can and will be invaded to cover living expenses during periods of unemployment -- doesn't begin to compare to a promise of $X per month for life.
It's not just the obvious financial benefits to employers and to Wall St., but its impact on workers. The effect -- intentional or not -- of removing the guaranteed benefit is to make workers far less secure. This would be true whether or not the 401(k) was in fact the economic equivalent of a pension (which it is not). The key is that workers are constantly placed in jeopardy and have no choice but to rely on the benevolence of the moneyed interest. This is really about a major shift of power from workers to owners.
Roosevelt understood that confidence in the future was essential, which means that people need security. That's why threats to the remaining remnants of his security program -- SS and Medicare -- are so hotly resisted. It's a classic example of Things We All Know(sm): the little scraps of security that we have left are all that stands between us and a lifetime of indentured servitude.
Before long, off the coast of Manhattan in the East River, a monument to FDR will open, highlighting his commitment to the Four Freedoms. Perhaps that will be an occasion for us to start talking about redressing the abuses that have been heaped on the 99% in the name of enriching the 1%.
