Home > Bush Broke his Promise on Social Security
Bush 2001 vs. Bush 2005, when and why did he change his mind?
Bush in the 2001 State of the Union: "To make sure the retirement savings of
America’s seniors are not diverted to any other program, my budget protects all $2.6 trillion of the Social Security surplus for Social
Security, and for Social Security alone."
Bush Feb 9, 2005 - "The money-payroll taxes going into the Social
Security are spent. They’re spent on benefits and they’re spent
on government programs. There is no trust."
Alan W. Smith,
author of "The Looting of Social Security" thought that the truth had
just accidentally slipped out when the president let down his guard and
strayed from the script. But when Bush made similar statements on
Thursday in both North Carolina and Pennsylvania, Smith concluded that
the administration was going to begin using the empty trust fund as
part of the effort to convince the public that Social Security is in
crisis.
"From my perspective," Smith continued, "President
Bush clearly admitted to looting the Social Security trust fund in
three separate speeches this week. I suspect that he and his
advisers took a calculated risk that by revealing the ongoing looting
that has taken place over the past 20 years he would have more
ammunition for his current campaign to undermine Social Security.
But I think he made a big political mistake. When America’s
workers realize that they have been the victims of the greatest fraud
ever perpetrated against the American people by their government, I
think there will be an angry public outcry demanding that the looting
be stopped and that the money already looted be paid back to the trust
fund and invested in marketable Treasury bonds. If that is done,
Social Security will then be able to pay full benefits until 2042."
Available Topic Expert:
Allen W. Smith, Ph.D.
http://profnet.prnewswire.com/ud_public.jsp?userid=350721
Forum posts
14 February 2005, 19:50
I worked for 12 years, with seniors, as an outreach worker for an Area Agency on Aging. Even then there were rumbles over Social Security, due to the numbers of ’baby boomers’, who would be retiring in a few years. I am a ’baby boomer’, but not part of the group who will retiring first.
My co-worker was a few years older and had the same concerns, as I did, about the large numbers of ’boomers’ who would be retiring. We became more worried when we found out, that your Social Security is based on the highest income you’re earned. That all Social Security monies go into the general fund, with no one’s name attached to it. They don’t keep track of who pays what. Our hope was the surplus that had been accumulating over the years, would offset the amount of people coming up for retirement., including ourselves. Otherwise, we joked, Social Security would be sending us I.O.U.s, every month, instead of a check. The seniors we worked with got a kick out of it, and we had a few good laughs as well.
We’re not laughing now. What people are failing to realize, is the Social Security, my co-worker and myself wil be collecting, in a few year, comes from my children’s generation. Now if they choose to invest any of their Social Security monies, in the stock market, where is the money going to come from to pay my co-worker’s and my retirement SS? We paid into the system for years, with the promise of income at retirement. The money which we paid in, did not go into any little trust for us, it paid the retirees of the past and currently the present.
I worry that my children, if they decided to invest in private accounts, could see a big loss in their investments. It’s a long time between being 24 to 65, the market is very tricky. It can make you rich or wipe you out. So who takes care of that generation, if they lose money and do not have enough to retire on? Is the government going to kick in the difference? How about all the money the investment companies are going to make? They are the only ones who will come out the winner. Okay, fine, let the younger people invest in private accounts and make the investment companies turn over all profits they make, back into Social Security, to create that safety net for those who choose to invest and help the income for those retired, disabled, etc. Bet the investment companies won’t be so gung-ho over the idea any more.
Our problems with Social Security can’t be resolved by creating new ones. It may not be the best system, but no ones goes without. Everyone gets some form of Social Security, the other way is too iffy. People are already offered a chance to iinvest through programs their companies provide. I saw very small gains, and my portfolio was diverse. Suddenly, I was losing money, one month I lost alot. I never made that amount monthly in gains, but it sure dropped big on the loss side. What I’m trying to say, is it’s to risky, if you’re using it for retirement. I can see many people pannicking when they lose. Or what happens, if you have a tidy sum, enough to be quite comfortable, just as you’re ready to retire, then suddenly before you actually can retire, you lose a lot of it, so you’re no longer going to be comfortable, you’re barely going to get by? What happens if the bottom falls out of the market?
Do you have rich, weathly friends to bale you out? Will the investment companies reimburse you for the money you’ve lost? Nope, they’re laughing all the way to the bank!
20 February 2005, 08:22
What did you expect from professional liars?