Bush Says Private Accounts Offer Young Workers a `Better Deal'

[NVMojo]

Aww, shucks, he's looking out for his daughters' friends now!!! What a great guy!!!

Next it will be about how much better our pets will be in the future with their owners living off of "private accounts"....


April 18 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said the government-run individual retirement accounts he is promoting across the country would offer younger U.S. workers a chance to save and invest outside the Social Security system.

``We have the opportunity to offer younger Americans a better deal than the current system,'' Bush said in a speech at the South Carolina statehouse in Columbia.

The president is in the final leg of a 60-day effort to persuade voters and lawmakers that the country must address Social Security's future solvency now and to promote his proposal to create private investment accounts funded by payroll taxes. He then will pivot to focus on specific plans to fund the program in the future, his spokesman, Scott McClellan, said.

``Social Security has been a great success,'' Bush said. ``The problem is that the government is making promises for younger Americans that it cannot pay for.''

more ....

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=a_a1dQsape9Y&refer=top_world_news

[Arkana]

1. Sorry, Chimpster, but I'm a 20-year-old

and I'm not buying it. I don't care HOW much money I have the potential to make--I don't want my pension to suddenly dry up because of a stock market fluctuation.

[flpoljunkie]

6. Jane Bryant Quinn has excellent article in Newsweek on Dubya's plan.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7528520/site/newsweek/

This Bet May Cost You Big
The plan to reform Social Security will mean a double cut in benefits. Returns from private accounts are unlikely to cover both.

By Jane Bryant Quinn

Contributing Editor
Newsweek


April 25 issue - When the president argues for privatizing Social Security, he hammers home a single point:it's a better financial deal for the young. If they all had personal investment accounts, they'd wind up richer than if they stuck with the government plan. Some unlucky people would fall behind, but not enough to matter (and besides, "it won't be me").

But how many of the young (not to mention the middle-aged) might fall on the "unlucky" side? A larger number than you think What's more, you'll be getting a double cut in Social Security benefits—a fact that the White House hasn't exactly advertised. Investment returns from private accounts can potentially make up for one of the cuts, but they're unlikely to cover both.

Certainly, something must be done to square Social Security's promises with the taxes the public is willing to pay. Today's program is affordable in something close to its current form, but not if tax cuts and other spending matter more. Bush wants to make his tax cuts permanent, at a long-term cost to the budget that's triple the cost of making Social Security solvent again (the estimates come from Social Security and the Congressional Budget Office). So we're talking priorities, not money: tax cuts versus the safety net.

more...

[whistle]

2. Suckers play for the young and Bush is spending so fast....

...that younger Americans will never be able to pay the bill!

[teryang]

3. "Trust me" says the man who lied to go to war

Fraud is the bushco modus operandi.

[ClintonTyree]

4. Anyone who's witnessed what Wall Street 's been doing...

over the last two weeks will REALLY want to let slimy traders to get their hands on your money.

Bush's entire SS plan in done. Over. He'd better come up with another plan to steal everyone's money, because this one is toast. I have all the faith in the world that bush and his mafia will come up with another plan to fleece Americans, it'll just take a little time. They were caught off guard with someone saying, NO, to them for once. They'll be back.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

5. This reminds me of the guys

standing near alleys, "psst, buddy, wanna buy a watch?"

[DIKB]

7. Given the stockmarket

and how radically things can change. Hell No. I'm 24 there is NO WAY I'm opting into this. The amount of money that'll be borrowed to fund this venture would drastically hurt our economy.

Why not just put all your future on a game of craps ?

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

8. Here's hoping you younger folks

will make Bush and his cronies come to realize what Abraham Lincoln meant when he said,"you can fool some of the people all of the time,and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool ALL the people, ALL the time."

[damntexdem]

9. Well, I just can't think of any way to argue against this!

Not in a week when the Dow has fallen precipitately. Not in a year when public support for privatization, never very high, continues into the toilet. Not after all of the analyses showing that the assumptions underlying arguments for private accounts are so biased. Not when the WH itself has admitted that its scheme would do nothing to improve SS solvency. Not when Dubya's scheme would add something like $2 trillion to SS shortfalls. After all, what are all of these facts and considerations against that one overwhelming endorsement: Dubya's statement that he offers 'a better deal than the current system'? Against the beauty of such an unfounded assurance, I just cannot muster any kind of refutation. ;-)

[stray cat]

10. Will Bush explain why my 401K is in a downward trajectory?

If Bush's private accounts will make so much money for all of us - could he please explain why all our 401Ks are going the wrong direction and how my parents lost have their retirement savings in "conservative investments" in our stock market.

[EVDebs]

11. He's counting on the younger generation's poor educational skills !

Buy into the logic as the stock market starts to tank. Maybe he'll be telling the youngsters to put money into their mattresses if the market gets much lower and gas prices go higher.

Love those 'potemkin village' town meetings too. Just wish more Dems and progressives would try to crash them !

[NVMojo]

12. Watch, pets will be the next focus group of his "private benefits" since

he's already gone through blacks, young people, middle aged, women, etc.....

Rove is running out of ideas.....