Sen. Boxer's major speech on Social Security

[nodictators]

http://boxer.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=232056

Boxer Delivers Major Speech On Social Security

Speech Addresses Real Motivation Behind Privatization

Feb. 11, 2005

Following are brief excerpts from Sen. Boxer’s speech. The full text should be read because there are in-depth explanations of many of these points.
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The White House has embarked on a mission to convince the people of our country that Social Security is in dire need of drastic change in order to save it for all workers.
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On January 6, 2005, the White House wrote a Social Security memo. Although marked "not for attribution," fortunately, we have it.

The most telling sentence in the entire memo is this: “For the first time in six decades the Social Security battle is one we can win – and in doing so, we can help transform the political and philosophical landscape of the country.”
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The memo also lays out the first priority for the White House and that is to “establish an important premise; the current system is heading for an iceberg” – thus explaining the use of the words “crisis,” “bankruptcy,” and “collapse.” By the way, he has also used the phrase “train wreck.”
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When it comes to Social Security, President Bush not only wants to sell the house, but the car, the antique grandfather clock, and the wedding band. In essence, he is walking away from the foundation of America’s most successful insurance program using scare tactics.
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Benefits will be cut an average of 45 percent. Millions will be thrown into poverty. Survivors, including children, who count on Social Security to protect them after the death of the primary earner will be left high and dry. Disabled workers who are protected by Social Security will be left to fend for themselves. Our budget will have deficits as far as the eye can see due to the interest costs on the trillions and trillions of borrowing that will be needed to make private accounts possible.
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I was a stock broker once. I think there is an absolute place for market investments. But they should never be the basis of one’s retirement. They should be an additional piece on top of a basic, secure, guaranteed retirement benefit.

And, don’t ever delude yourself into thinking that this private account will make you rich. According to a recent study, a typical American who contributes to a private account for 40 years will get about $300 per month during retirement.
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Twenty-two years ago, a right-wing think tank created a blue print for the demise of Social Security. That blue print says to get banks and insurance companies who will reap the benefits of private accounts behind the effort.
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What exactly does privatization of Social Security mean for Wall Street moguls? According to a study by the University of Chicago, Social Security privatization will put $940 billion into Wall Street’s pockets. And this will come out of the pockets of hard working Americans. The same study said that administrative fees for Wall Street firms will cut the value of your private account by 20 percent.
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The blue print also says it is necessary to buy off the elderly by telling them their benefits won’t be touched.

And that instruction is being followed. In his State of the Union speech, President Bush said that for those 55 and older, “the Social Security system will not change in any way.”
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Another message I have today is to people 55 and older: don’t believe a word the President says about your benefits being safe.
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Privatization is being pushed as a solution, when in fact, private accounts push Social Security over the edge.
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If privatization succeeds, the average retirement benefit would be cut by 45 percent.
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The people over 55 should not be lulled into believing that they are safe from this ax, which is being wielded against Social Security.
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Because Social Security is much more than a retirement plan, widows and orphans and disabled workers will be in an economic free fall.

END

Notes: Over the weekend Sen. Grassley said Bush would agree to tax hikes as long as privatization was enacted. It seems he does want to “push Social Security over the edge,” as Sen. Boxer warned.

In his Saturday radio address, Bush said a private account would have a quarter of a million dollars in it when a person who earned $35,000/year retires. He neglected to mention that is the inflated value, and when deflated at an annualized 3% rate, would be about $78,000, which is the amount of benefits that the retiree gave up upon enrolling in the private account 40 years earlier. The $78,000 was also the number in the Jonathan Weisman Washington Post article about the value of private accounts.

[whistle]

1. Bush and his neo-conservative pals want only to eliminate....

...corporate contributions to social security and thus increase the profits of businesses, by eliminating one more cost factor.

[mark wayne]

6. Thats all they have ever wanted to do.

Help their fat cat buddies and screw us over in the process. Its the "let them eat cake" syndrome.

[nodictators]

8. Actually, Social Security doesn't cost the employers anything

They simply lower the pay that the employees would receive, and then add on benefits such as medical insurance, pensions, and FICA taxes.

That is done whenever they hire an employee or give a current employee a pay raise.

[Patchuli]

2. Once again! Kudos to Barbara!!!!

Expose the lying liars! Who among us, couldn't do better handling our own savings than what is actually going to be delivered, should * get his idiotic plan accepted??! $78,000???? After how many years of paying? 30? 40? 50? Are they going to raise retirement age to 70???? F that!!

[Cha]

3. Thanks, bush..you arrogant son of a

Bitch!

"The most telling sentence in the entire memo is this: “For the first time in six decades the Social Security battle is one we can win – and in doing so, we can help transform the political and philosophical landscape of the country.”

Without the sob taking on Social Security...we might not have had this chance!

[ailsagirl]

4. This is f***ing UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

I am AGHAST

:thumbsdown: :grr: :wtf:

[ailsagirl]

5. kick

[Viva_La_Revolution]

7. She makes me so proud!!

I almost wanna move to CA! almost.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

9. kick n/t

[napi21]

10. Wonder if this will make the MSM? Especially the memo!

I suspect it will make cspan, if only through a caller, but will it even make it to dumb shows like Inside Politics, or Wolf?

If I can figure out how to do it without too many quotes, I'l try to do a LTE. Almost all of mine get published!

[nodictators]

11. Update: Greenspan double-talks while endorsing Bush's scam

From a current Washington Post article:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1802&ncid=1802&e=3&u=/washpost/20050217/ts_washpost/a27890_2005feb16

Borrow Cautiously, Greenspan Advises

Thu Feb 17, 6:38 AM ET

Greenspan agreed with White House officials and Democrats that private accounts, by themselves, would do nothing to improve Social Security's long-term solvency. The president has not proposed any specific ways to reduce Social Security's future obligations.

A White House official said Bush purposely opened the door to what amounts to a tax increase for high-income workers to signal to Congress his willingness to compromise to win approval of private Social Security accounts. "Just because he said it was an option does not mean he embraced it," spokesman Duffy said.

Still, the White House had signaled previously that Bush was opposed to lifting the cap.

If the "private accounts" do NOTHING to help the Social Security "crisis" then why would pushing them through first be so important? Shouldn't Greenspan and Bush "fix" Social Security first?

Also, why did Bush lie in his Saturday radio address, as noted above? And why did the "senior administration official" in the pre-SOTU address claim that the TSP C-fund had an 11% annualized rate of gain over 10 years and claim that the private accounts might do the same.

In fact, the 11% includes inflation and is calculated on the supposition that all of the money is invested in a lump sum up front. That's completely different than the the private accounts, where the money is invested periodically over the years. Based on that the real (inflation-adjusted) return is 4.05%, not 11%.