The Senate Budget Resolution: It Could Have Been Worse

As bad as the budget resolution (S.CON.RES.83) that emerged from the Senate is (raising the debt ceiling and trying once again to resurrect ANWR drilling), it could have been worse. As daveweigel at Kos brought to our attention, an amendment (S.AMDT.3087) to "establish a reserve fund for Social Security reform" was defeated with 46 Republicans--and not a single Democrat--voting "Yea."
Two provisions of the failed amendment would have paved the way for privatization of Social Security by,

(2) ensuring that there is no change to current law scheduled benefits for individuals born before January 1, 1950;
(3) providing the option to voluntarily obtain legally binding ownership of at least some portion of each participant's benefits; ...

Translation: I and everyone else under age 55 wouldn't be protected from reductions in benefits, and the tax funded trust fund could be raided to set up private investment accounts, eroding the fiscal stability of the program and likely leading to, you guessed it, benefit cuts.