Posted on 05/01/2005 9:26:33 PM PDT by CHARLITE
Give President Bush credit for tenacity. Facing nearly total Democratic opposition and low poll numbers, he nonetheless raised the ante on Social Security last week. The President embraced "progressive indexing" of benefits, in the hope of breaking up the political logjam.
As a policy matter, this at least challenges Democrats to honor their own principles. For months they've been saying they really do want to do something about Social Security "solvency," which means shoring up its inevitable financing shortfall. By adjusting the formula for future benefits based on income, Mr. Bush has now embraced the "fairness" claims that Democrats say they hold dear. So are they serious or not?
On first response, not. Democrats immediately opposed Mr. Bush's proposal--the brainchild of Democratic financier Robert Pozen--as "big benefit cuts." AARP lobbyist John Rother proved his organization's lack of sincerity by calling it "an unnecessary and unfair benefit cut on the middle class."
Sigh. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan and other Democrats once acknowledged, current policy increases real, inflation-adjusted benefits over time. That's because benefits are tied to growth in wages, rather than to increases in prices (which rise somewhat more slowly).
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
The Dems are afraid of losing thier Private Slush fund!! They have taken our taxes and spent them on their Socialist programs. Bush now threatens to reduce the amount of that slush fund. Personal accounts would eliminate their control on this tremendous amount of cash!
Unfortunately this bluff involves embracing socialistic principles.
A move toward privatization is better than the status quo.
privatization = socialism
It's best to leave it in government hands as a complete redistributive program to prevent the socialism you fear from taking place.
The President sure did meet the Dems on their level. Yet they rebuff him, proving that they do not want to do anything about the problem Bush is addressing which would give the GOP credit.
The party of "no."
Their bluff was called and called hard.
Yes but he keeps doing this. We have the education bill, the prescription drug bill. We have these expensive socialist programs that we got from him calling their bluffs. He wins his political battles but we lose our freedom.
Let's not be a drama queen.
As it stands on Social Security, only words are proposed. Nothing is being debated in Congress concerning it.
It's early in this ball game. It can take a number of turns. But nothing can be said about it that is permanent, yet.
Social Security is one giant Ponzi Scheme.
As the base of the pyramid gets smaller, with fewer paying in, and the top gets bigger, with more receiving benefits, the entire pyramid collapses.
Thank you, Mr President for giving the country a reality check. Shame on the Dems for wearing blinders and waiting for this catastrophy to happen
Sell the accounting change like fixing the House Bank scandal. John Q. Public can well understand it if there are no other changes to confuse him. Once the accounting is fixed THEN come forward with private accounts. Once the accounting is fixed they'll look great over any time period and the NO plan of the Democrats will look as pathetic as it is.
Wherever did that come from?
excellent editorial
ping
That is the key issue. Bush is going to make them show their hand. In the end, Bush is proposing a humongous tax cut.
That's ridiculous, IMO.
First of all, the GOP is alos guilty of tapping the fund.
Dems are so used to being "anti-Bush" and obstructionist, he could have stated the sky was blue and they would have disagreed.
They are upset that he vocalized the idea of tiering before they did. He is stealing their idea of penalizing the wealthy.
Thank you for that correction.
Thank you for that correction.
Since FDR was the "father" of Social Security, the Rats feel that they are the only ones who have the right to do anything about it. If Bill Clinton had proposed the exact same thing, they would have voted for the reform unanimously. But they can't let Republicans get the credit, because they consider Social Security "their baby."
It's like the joke, if President Bush could walk on water, the Rats would scream, "see, he can't swim."
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