It is fitting that the president’s biggest push for personal accounts has come during the month of February, Black History Month.
For blacks, the switch to personal accounts would be a historical victory and a step toward equality.
In the current system, those who live the longest ultimately get the greatest return. Statistically black Americans and the working poor live the shortest lives.
They die long before they can withdraw from Social Security the lifelong investments they’ve made.
While Republicans like the ideology of giving individual Americans more control over their own futures, and thus support the president’s plan, Democrats should recognize the reality that some of their biggest constituencies will be the biggest winners.
Social Security reform is an opportunity for politics to be put aside and real civil rights progress to be made.
