The U.S. government is a big insurance company, with a side business in national security: Paul Krugman

Found the above quote while browsing the Paul Krugman archive. Wow! It kinda puts the whole attitude of liberals towards the government and national security in the perspective! Isn't it?

Why do they want to dismantle it?

It's hard to understand why anyone would want to return us to the days before the New Deal, when millions of elderly people lived in poverty. But if you really dislike the notion that the government provides a safety net for the poor, then Social Security is the prime target. The U.S. government is a big insurance company, with a side business in national security. Social Security is the biggest social-insurance program that we have. It's been highly successful, and it's extremely popular. It's one of the things that makes people feel somewhat good about government -- and so, therefore, it must go.

The Fake Crisis: Economist Paul Krugman explains Bush's latest con -- Social Security