Bush explains how "personal accounts" will be privately managed

[Rose Siding]

For all the jumping up and down about calling the proposed accounts "personal" rather than "private", he can't even manage to explain them without admitting that his scheme amounts to privatization.

From today's Tampa Forum:

Q Well, I think you'll like this. It's a simple suggestion. Regarding, the flexible spending account, my suggestion is to encourage Congress to quickly get rid of the "use it or lose it" law, which will also supplement the help with Social Security. And then, my question is, for the three or four options that will be available, will those options be federally-run options? Or will they be from like commercial providers, say, like Fidelity Investments?

THE PRESIDENT: No, no, that's a great question. They'll be from providers. We don't want the federal government making stocks and bond decisions. (Applause.) They'll be private -- private sector, people who get paid to do this. And the fees, by the way, will be -- we'll make sure that you don't get gouged. I mean, obviously, what we want is people's money going into their personal account, not going into big fee structures. And so there will be a -- it will be regulated to that extent. In other words, there will a certain sense of regulation, you can only invest in certain kinds of stocks and bonds to be -- and the funds will be managed by people whose job it is to manage them, outside of the government.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050204-13.html

[Spinzonner]

1. Time to call them "Corporatized" accounts

and connect them to the Wall Street and Board Room scandals

[Tux]

7. More like

corporate communism.

[greendog]

13. Let's call them "Kenny boy" accounts

n/t

[AlCzervik]

2. Those people "Outside the government"

will be making huge fees paid by the government. Boondogle.

[htuttle]

3. This just in from the people who brought you $700 hammers

"...we'll make sure that you don't get gouged. "

In an unrelated news item Halliburton announced the formation of a new financial services division (wait...that story isn't supposed to run until a year from now...disregard...).

[Career Prole]

4. The shrub cannot clearly explain Tinkertoys. n/t

[City Lights]

5. When I glanced at the title of your thread I thought it said,

"Bush explains how 'personal accounts' will be privately mangled."

Mangled fits too, no? ;-)

[sandnsea]

6. Enronize our retirement

That's what they're talking about. Or, Arthur Anderson accounts. These are in no way giving people more control over their money.

[Anakin Skywalker]

8. Any guarantees my hard-earned money won't be blown away?

F*** you, Bush! Anybody who falls for his sh*t has got to be a really stupid person. Stock markets do crash, ya know.

[LSK]

9. i suppose these companies will do this for free

NOT!!!

[Emboldened Chimp]

10. LOL! We're gonna trust Chimpy to protect us from being gouged?

Just like he's doing with price of gasoline, right? What an asshole this guy is.

[Batgirl]

11. At least he did say one thing that's true:

“I mean, obviously, what we want is people's money"

[whathappened]

12. seeing in the future

all this b.s. woud'nt be happening in the first place if our corperate friends would stayed there asses in america and forgot about all the cheap labor across the pond , this had led to a real shortfall in the amount of money going into ss fund thru lower paying jobs and no jobs , why can't they see who the real threat to america is , it is the corperate unamericans and there low balling wages which ripple all the way to ss , these money hurgery thugs need to be paying huge taxes on these goods to get them back in america and then maybe they would take a better look at what we americans have to offer up to them in labor and how they got to be what they are today , sorry for the lenght of this reply , but i'm so mad about this crap i needed to vent

[skysurfer]

14. Liar!

"They'll be private -- private sector, people who get paid to do this. And the fees, by the way, will be -- we'll make sure that you don't get gouged"

Really? The same way you made sure people wouldn't be gouged by the Medicare bill YOU signed that prevents the government from negotiating drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies?!?!

How does this man sleep at night?