It’s going to be hard to sell Social Security choice to the public if its Congressional proponents can’t get the argument straight. Here’s Senator Rick Santorum, R-Penn., muffing the question of the “transition cost” of establishing PRAs (Personal Retirement Accounts), i.e. of allowing workers to opt their payroll taxes out of Social Security in exchange for correspondingly reduced future benefits:

Lastly, some individuals expressed concern that in order to establish PRAs, the government will have to borrow money. My suggestion is that we invest or even borrow some money now to save more than $10 trillion down the road. Transition costs are not new costs, but rather moving forward more than $10 trillion of future cost, and in essence paying it off early at a reduced rate, much like refinancing a mortgage or paying off a credit card. A relatively smaller amount of money would need to be borrowed now to establish PRAs, compared to the painful choices that await us if we do nothing. The bottom line is that PRAs are an essential part of the solution to help relieve the long-term financial burden today’s system places on our children and grandchildren.

What he should have said:
“Lastly, some individuals expressed concern that in order to establish PRAs, the government will have to borrow money. I would point out that the federal government would not, on net, be taking on any greater debt than it already has taken on. Any amount the Treasury borrows to replace redirected Social Security payroll taxes would be exactly matched by reduced obligations to pay future Social Security benefits. In essence we would be swapping one debt for another, much like refinancing a mortgage. To be honest, PRAs do not help relieve the long-term financial burden that today’s system has already placed on us – but neither do they increase that burden. We will have to address the underfunding gap in some other way. In contrast to Social Security, PRAs will give our children and grandchildren the opportunity to earn better returns on their retirement savings, and to own their savings in a form they can pass on to their own children. And PRAs offer our economy a source of funds to invest in productive factories and other businesses, increasing the productivity of labor and raising our grandchildren’s standard of living.”