Something which amazes me is that people are actually bringing up the Southeast Texas experience in opting out of Social Security in support of the Bush plan. I guess I shouldn't be, they have also brought up Chile's experiment which is a disaster unless you are very rich. I have read several articles and even talked to a couple people about the Galveston plan. Now Senator Boxer's staff ran the numbers.
This study compares two sets of families in three different income brackets. We show what happens to their retirement in 2005 under Social Security and under the Texas plan. The bottom line is that Americans are clearly better off with Social Security's guaranteed, inflation-protected retirement benefit. And, minor children are protected with Social Security's survivor benefits and completely left out in the Texas plan. Over the last few months, you have heard many arguments against privatization -- that it will bankrupt our country, that it will result in deep benefit cuts, that it will be a windfall for Wall Street. I have made all of those arguments, and more. The other side has responded by saying that despite all of that, it will work. They have asserted again and again that Americans will be better off with privatized accounts. They can say that no longer. By examining the actual system in place in Texas, this study shows that Americans are worse off with privatized accounts -- not in theory, but in reality... Because Social Security protects seniors from inflation, at the age of 80, a [median income] couple will receive over $13,000 more that year from Social Security than from the Texas plan. Who would possibly say the Galveston plan is better? Higher income people looking short term, the first few years before inflation erodes their annuity high incomes get more. The more income you have the better you make out. Boxer's summary doesn't mention that the Galveston plan is also using a higher wage tax than Social Secuiry. So just another screw those poorer, I make enough, I get more Republican scheme. http://boxer.senate.gov/issues/sstexas.cfm Gary Denton Easter Lemming Blogs http://elemming.blogspot.com http://elemming2.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
