White House transcript: Bush explains his Social Security plan

[Flint-oid]

Q -- really understand how is it the new plan is going to fix that problem?

THE PRESIDENT: Because the -- all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those -- changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be -- or closer delivered to what has been promised.

Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the -- like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate -- the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those -- if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.

Okay, better? I'll keep working on it.

[Technowitch]

1. My god, what a blithering idiot...

Then again, this is not news at all.

As with Reagan, there will eventually come a day when historians debate when exactly it was that Shrub's alcohol-induced dementia actually began.

My vote? Around 1996, give or take.

[rkc3]

3. Try 1966.

[noamnety]

2. This part shows his grasp of the economy

THE PRESIDENT: How much do you make?

Q Well, I'm a student.

THE PRESIDENT: Guess. (Laughter.) Go ahead, guess how much you're going to make. First of all, let's just assume you make $50,000 your first year.

[rkc3]

5. He probably thinks teachers still make $4,000 a year.

Why do we beat ourselves up so much over this idiot? Trying to dissect his every word in hopes that he will someday make sense - forget it, it will never happen.

[MissB]

6. $50k the first year?

:eyes: He is so out of touch.

[Technowitch]

7. But you see -- that IS how much he thinks a student makes!

That is, one attending Harvard Business School, while getting a stipend from one's trust fund. Or perhaps earnings and dividends from one's stock portfolio, plus a little sweetener for serving as a non-voting member of an oil company's board of directors.

In Shrub's world, students don't hold down two or three part-time jobs, just to cover the ever-increasing tuition... only to spend the next five to ten years of their lives after graduation, paying off loans...

Yeesh. Talk about a plutocracy. Welcome to the New Gilded Age!

[Xipe Totec]

4. I think what he meant to say was...

"We need to destroy not attack, not damage, not surround. I want to destroy Social Security"

[aden_nak]

8. Read it and ask yourself, "Would I let this guy drive me to the airport?"

If the answer to that question is no, then should this guy be President?

[noamnety]

9. It's not any better before the Q&A

"So, to give you an example, in 2027, the system will be $200 billion short. In other words, they collect X amount of payroll taxes, but because baby boomers like me are living longer and have been promised greater benefits, we're $200 billion short that year -- that year. And the next year is bigger than $200 billion. In 3037 {sic}, it's like $300 billion. And finally in -- 2037, it's $300 billion. In 2042, it's bust. Those are the facts.

So, I see a problem. And I think it's time to address it square on. That's why I spent a great deal of time in the State of the Union."


(I was asking my husband if Bush thinks the State of the Union is a real state. My husband responded "It doesn't matter, the Union people wouldn't let him in." :) )

[bunkerbuster1]

10. yeah, you "keep working on it," Chimpy

Just keep ignoring the stench of death that accompanies this proposal of yours. Pretend like all the desperate calls you're getting from people your own party are just noise.

[sabra]

11. Oh, there are many classic quotes from the transcript...

such as this one:

"Well, thanks for coming. Gosh, I'm -- you know, it's interesting -- well, anyway, I find it interesting that younger people are now paying attention to the issue. That's important. See, when the word gets out to the Congress that says there's a lot of young folks who are saying, I don't think I'm ever going to see a dime unless Congress acts, that will get people acting, because there's a lot of young folks. The key is to make sure our seniors fully understand that they're not going to see anything change.
"

makes total sense, right....

[KansDem]

12. Hey, George, stick to trying to explain what "sovereign" means...

Speaking at the Unity: Journalists of Color convention in Washington, D.C., last Friday, President Bush, responding to a question about what tribal sovereignty meant in the 21st century, said: "Tribal sovereignty means just that; it's sovereign. You're a -- you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/186171_bushtribes13.html

This guy's so full of shit! :crazy:

[TrogL]

13. This is called "cluttering"

It's similar to dyslexia and stuttering.