In a Nation as Rich as Ours: Why Social Security Works and Why Its Enemies Are Wrong

"Contrary to popular belief, Social Security is not in danger from retiring baby boomers," writes Max J. Skidmore in this easy-to-read attack on those who would reform the system. Skidmore doesn't even grant that the reformers may have a good cause. They are, he says, motivated by bad intentions: "those who have ideological points to score, and those who have fortunes to be made." In other words, the current fuss over Social Security is the result of a successful propaganda campaign waged by antigovernment conservatives and greedy Wall Street investment companies. Privatizing the system is a sham, says Skidmore, because it doesn't guarantee any kind of result. The stock market may go up, it may go down, but Social Security is always there. This book is not written to persuade, but to motivate; readers who want to see Social Security preserved as a government-run entitlement program for retirees will find themselves cheering every one of Skidmore's thrusts and blows. Those who are more skeptical about the long-term solvency of Social Security or think it's a fundamentally bad deal for young Americans will find themselves frustrated by Social Security and Its Enemies. --John J. Miller