On Wed, 5 Jan 2005 16:05:23 -0600, Gary Denton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Those "pieces of paper" as you call them were Greenspan's and Reagan's > solution as to how the SS system would be nearly permanently solvent. > Which it is. > > As long as you can trust the government to meet its obligations. > > Bush faces four economic problems - the general fund deficit, the > Medicare/Medicaid gap, the trade gap, and the current > housing/stock/debt bubble. He has made the first three worse and > ignored the last and now wants to destroy a system that works to avoid > paying for obligations promised and make his biggest problem - the > general fund budget deficit, worse.. > > At the time of the SS fix many people warned it was simply a > lower-income tax increase to avoid raising taxes on the rich and we > couldn't count on a future GOP government to meet the obligations. > How true. > > Gary Denton > http://elemming2.blogspot.com > oddd - yesterday I went back to number one on google for liberal news > but back down again today. A Better Way
President Bush has a Social Security scheme which costs $2 trillion and would entail massive cuts in promised benefits. There is a better way to improve retirement security in America. In today's New York Times, American Progress's Gene Sperling suggests "a new universal 401(k) that offers all Americans a private retirement account in addition to Social Security, and uses government funds to match contributions made by moderate and lower-income workers." Unlike the president's plan, this would not reduce Social Security benefits. Sperling's plan would include a "dollar-for-dollar match by the government for initial contributions by moderate-income workers and even more for the working poor." The new accounts could be paid for by reclaiming a small fraction of the massive tax giveaways for the rich that Bush pushed through in his first term. (Those tax cuts cost the federal government $100 billion-a-year.) Sperling suggests "a 3-percent surcharge on all income over $200,000 â whether from earnings, dividends or capital gains." Unlike privatization plans â which just shift money around and add risk â the new accounts would actually increase national savings. perm NYTimes http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/05/opinion/05sperling.html?ex=1262667600&en=ae27d110d6d93307&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland\ http://tinyurl.com/3qtup Gary D. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
