Democrats wary of Bush on Social Security reform

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With President George W. Bush still intent on overhauling Social Security, Democrats who control Congress show no sign of backing off their opposition to his proposal to create private investment accounts.

While it was unclear whether Bush would launch another big effort in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, lawmakers were showing some fresh interest in tackling the program's long-term financial shortfall with the looming retirement of the 77 million-strong baby boom generation.

It will take a strong bipartisan effort to tackle what are bound to be politically unpopular moves that could include raising taxes and cutting benefits.

"We're prepared to work with the president in a bipartisan way," said U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland. But if Bush insists, as he has in the past, that any overhaul include his proposal to divert some Social Security taxes into individual investment accounts then "we are not going to have much success," Hoyer added.

A number of behind-the-scenes bipartisan discussions among lawmakers suggest some new flexibility. Democrats, now in control in the House and Senate, point to discussions with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2007-01-23T212451Z_01_N23291697_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-SPEECH-SOCIALSECURITY.xml&WTmodLoc=Home-C5-politicsNews-2

don't let corps get the frigging fingers into it and tax them to get the money back they have robbed.

Actively opposed is more like it. And there is really nothing wrong with the Social Security Trust Fund, unless you really, really believe that the United States is about to hit a sustained period of negative economic growth and that people will be working to age 62 and living to age 147.

Any "shortfall" shows up when the numbers are projected out not 50 years or 100 years, but to infinity. And since the period is "infinite," there is no projected shortfall, because any shortage over an infinite time period becomes insignificant when amortized year by year. A penny a year could cover it, because an infinite number of pennies would overwhelm any projected shortfall.

Who buys this snake oil, anyway?

wary? - I thought the word was opposed!

and making it hands off for any other use - Gore's lockbox.

Reagan did it in the 80's, to save social security back then by building up a surplus.

Then the fucking Republicans stole the surplus money and used it to fund general expenses.

And those taxes are the regressive ones, that don't even impact people earning over $80K per year.

There is no way they should increase ss taxes, unless and until
#1) the non-SS budget is balanced by increasing the top tax rate by whatever it takes to balance the budget
#2) the entire SS surplus has been restored, again, by increasing taxes on the rich which were cut and CAUSED the budget deficits
#3) the cap on SS wages is eliminated totally.
#4) a mechanism is put into place to prevent future Congresses from raiding the SS surplus to pay for tax cuts for the rich.

That's what Clinton's surplus was supposed to do, pay down the debt so when our social security needed to be repaid, there'd be general fund money to do it. That's all the tax cut money Bush gave away to the rich these last 6 years. If we let them bullshit us with more taxes AGAIN, then the whole country is full of nothing but idiots.

SCREWING.

The man knows nothing else. His "health care" plan is more of the same. I hope that goes down the tubes too. I took a good sized pay decrease to get good Aemployer health PLAN. So, on MY $9.89/hour they are going to tax this so the "poor" can have coverage? I don't think so. On my salary, what the hell am I? RICH? I will drop ALL my medical coverage if that happens. So I will die sooner rather than later?

That is actually the purpose of his health care proposal: to end employer-provided healthcare. In return, you get the privelege of privately buying a private insurance policy for yourself in Junior's brave new privatized world. Insurance companies will be happy to sell you a policy if you don't actually need one.

Everything else is just a smoke screen. Like the man said, "Fool me once..."


Hekate

since day one to give SS to his Wall Street buddies. It sticks in his craw that he hasn't been able to let them loot the system.

There is no reason to be doing anything right now.

Suggestions:

1. Pay back the money they stole for this immoral war.
2. Stop sending all our jobs out of the country.