Free Republic

When President Bush tackled Social Security reform, he surely expected the usual denial and deceit from AARP and do-nothing Democrats. What he probably did not anticipate was an even more vehement defense of the status quo from conservative attorney Peter Ferrara, a longtime advocate of personal accounts. In a January op-ed, Ferrara strenuously opposed basing first-year benefits on individuals' earnings histories after adjusting for inflation (price indexing), rather than the current practice of giving initial benefits an extra boost to keep pace with economy-wide wage growth (wage indexing). "Under the current wage indexed system," wrote Ferrara, "the replacement rate, the...