Some questions I would have asked the President

1) Mr. President, you have said that Social Security will go "bankrupt" by 2041 if nothing is done. What year will the system go "bankrupt" by your definition if younger wage earners divert 40% of their payroll taxes to private accounts, as you propose?


2) Mr. President, you have said that if nothing is done, Social Security will only be able to pay 71% of scheduled benefits after 2041. How much lower than currently scheduled benefits would the average middle-income earner's benefits be if the means-tested indexing you proposed tonight were implemented?


3) Mr. President, you mentioned that one of our investment options would be to invest in US Treasury Bonds, backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government. But moments earlier, you said that our surplus is just a file cabinet full of IOUs, not a bank account. Isn't it true that that these IOUs are in fact US Treasury Bonds, backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government?


I have more, but since the bouncers would no doubt toss me out of the room before I even got this far, I'll leave it at that.

I can see the "um"ing and reverting to a completely different question now.

It's too bad the prss corps are all such total lap-dogs, isn't it?

1. "You've got to understand. Freedom Is On The March. Look, we have to embrace a fiscally responsible policy before it's too late. Next question."

2. "These terraists hate our Freedom. The best way to defeat them is to sow the seeds of Democracy in the middle east. No one is talking about tucking tail and running. Next question."

3. "I don't want to have to say to someone, 'look, you paid in all this money, and now it's gone.' That's why we need private accounts, before the whole system collapses."

Jeez, this is easier than I thought.

"It's hard work."