Help! I am trying to understand Social Security!

"Because the — all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those — changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be — or closer delivered to what has been promised. Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the — like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate — the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those — if that growth is affected, it will help on the red." —George W. Bush, explaining his plan to save Social Security, Tampa, Fla., Feb. 4, 2005


Source: http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blbushisms.htm

You don't speak dumbass.

I will translate:

"I don't know anything about the Social Security system, but I want to give the money saved for it to Wall Street. I am going to throw a lot of words at you in a haphazard fashion until your eyes glaze over and give it to me. "prices", "inflation", "wages". See, that's some words you might have seen before. I am growing the benefits with this plan. Getting rid of the red. That's all you need to hear. That's it. Blink and look confused....Good, now give me the money."

The Democratic Representative from Maryland hosted a town hall meeting in his state earlier this week. He had all the graphs and charts explaining how the system will be changed under Bush's theft plan.

C-Span may also have the video available from their library.

An online calculator to compare your Social Security benefits under the current Social Security System vs. the Bush privatization plan:

http://democrats.senate.gov/ss/calc.html

by adding it to the Demopedia article about Social Security (<http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/index.php/Social_Security>).

Ridiculing Shrubby is good clean fun, but people should also augment the Demopedia article with serious information about the issue. All the interesting material in the forum posts will be archived after a few days, and will then be much less accessible to someone who wants to understand Social Security.

. . . talk about nuts! . . . all's I gotta do now is clue-in a certain local right-wing editor whose Thursday, 2-24-05 editorial, Roosevelt Understood Need For Social Security Change, might have readers imagining that "...President Bush's proposal is, in a nutshell, almost exactly what FDR proposed 70 years ago:..."

:crazy:

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