Bloomberg: How President Bush's Social Security Reform Died

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000039&refer=columnist_hassett&sid=aFUZFnOwlOFE

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Social Security reform is dead. How it died tells us a lot about both U.S. political parties.

For a while, Social Security reform was like Westley, the hero of "The Princess Bride." After his friends discovered him in a torture chamber, apparently dead, they took him to a miracle maker named Max to see if he could be revived. After inspecting Westley, Max had good news. ``There's different kinds of dead,'' he said. ``There's sort of dead, mostly dead and all dead. This fella here, he's only sort of dead.''

Until two weeks ago, Social Security reform was sort of dead. But now it seems to be all dead. The breakdown occurred when the administration backed away from a proposal making its way through the House of Representatives that would have introduced personal accounts without specifically restoring solvency to the system.

Ben Bernanke, chairman of President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, publicly signaled the White House's displeasure with such an approach. Asked if restoring solvency was an inviolable condition, Bernanke said, ``Yes, I think the president will insist on maintaining the long-term solvency of the Social Security system.''

[napi21]

1. Does this meat dumbdumb will now start with yet another stupid idea?

So far, every idea Shrub has come up with has been dumb! He and his thugs did manage to push some of them through, even if it was through bribary and manipulation, like they did with the drug benefit program.

If his SS program is finally real dead, what in the world is he going to come up with next?

Ghees, I shudder to think!

[TheFarseer]

2. flat tax or national sales tax, I'm afraid

not that I have an specific evidence to suggest this. Just speculating.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

6. Go to Google News and type in "Bush Tax Reform"...

...the articles are piling up that a National Sales Tax or Flat Tax is what they'll be proposing, possibly ADDED TO the existing Income Tax.

How that makes things more "fair and simple," I don't know.

But the specific evidence is all over the place, and can be easily found if you want it.

:toast:

[napi21]

7. If it's added to current IT, we don't have any worries.

I've never even heard of a Pub who would support something like that! I even have great doubts he'd ever be able to get enough support for a flat tax or a national sales tax. The % would have to be way too high to be appealing!

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

9. I posted this on DU earlier today:

...for the National Sales Tax to "replace" the Income Tax, economists say a 50% (or higher) tax would be needed.

If a National Sales Tax is ADDED to the existing Income Tax, it's NOT "tax reform," it's a tax hike.

Either way, I've been saying all along that Social Security was a dry run for THIS.

People aren't going to like this one a bit once the "ideas" start hitting the table. September 30th is going to be one hell of a day.



ON EDIT: "50 percent or higher" IN ADDITION TO current state taxes, meaning it would end up being around SIXTY PERCENT on EVERY dollar. PLUS, rent and medical visits would be taxed. That $1000 a month apartment just became a $1500 a month apartment...or WORSE.

And the "prebate" rebate checks are ONLY for people making LESS than $18K / year.

[TheFarseer]

10. If you present people with a specific plan

where they can easily compare how much they would pay under each plan, most people will be able to see that they pay much more under either of those alternatives to the Income Tax. I hope that would stop this dead in it's tracks. Of course you will have to deal with 'bush math' where the sales tax wouldn't go any higher than 5% and other outright lies and the news media will once again treat basic math as a debatable point. I get so sick of these people using their own set of 'facts'

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

4. "Tax Reform Panel" turns in their recommendations Sept. 30th.

From all indications, they want:

1). National Sales Tax

OR

2). Flat Tax

OR

3). A combination of the existing Income Tax PLUS a National Sales Tax or Flat Tax

SO...the answer to your question is "yes." The agenda continues.

[warrens]

3. what a bunch of crap

What did Smirk ever suggest to "save" SS long-term. He (and AEI) are only interested in strangling it to death. This guy is like all of them: a stone sociopathic liar.

[htuttle]

5. Wonder how much money he wasted on that "Social Security Tour"?

Gotta be tens of millions of dollars.

[rocktivity]

8. Social Security died because the public saw it

for the self-serving, divide-and-conquering, fiscally irresponsible, totally unecessary, and downright shoddy political bill of goodsthat it was.

:headbang:
rocknation