"Social Security does NOT cheat blacks" Sorry, Smirk!!

[Bluebear]

Does Social Security cheat black Americans? Yes, President Bush insisted last week. But some Social Security experts say the answer is clearly "no."

The way Bush explained it to a group of black supporters last week, blacks are short-changed because they are more likely than whites to die before receiving their fair share of retirement benefits....

But there are other features of Social Security that tip the balance further toward blacks. Spouses and dependents of Social Security beneficiaries who die continue receiving half of the deceased person's benefits. Furthermore, the program pays not just retirement benefits but disability benefits to those too sick or injured to work. Blacks, 13 percent of the population, comprise 17 percent of the disability beneficiaries.

On balance, the program may actually benefit blacks more than whites, according to analyses by the AARP, scholars such as Liebman and the Social Security Administration's actuaries. Only the conservative Heritage Foundation has concluded otherwise.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050129/ap...

[K-W]

1. Paul Krugman had a good essay on this subject

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0128-27.htm

[Bluebear]

WONDERFUL paragraph:

"Is this an example of what Mr. Bush famously called "the soft bigotry of low expectations?" Maybe not: it isn't particularly soft to treat premature black deaths not as a tragedy we must end but as just another way to push your ideological agenda. But bigotry - yes, that sounds like the right word."

[ultraist]

9. DOUBLESPEAK!

His remark is wreaking of racism! Don't be fooled by his doublespeak, say one thing, but it really means something else.

Making the assumption that blacks will continue to die sooner is saying, by default, 'it will continue, because we intend to do nothing about that, LONG TERM.' (This is not a temporary plan he is proposing, but a long term Social Security overhaul).

Think about what he REALLY said. People will see through this veiled remark to see how racist it is.

[rodeodance]

3. this is real low of Bush to be saying this to Blacks!! I know--i know--

but when I hear these blatent outright crapos--it just blows me over!!

[Bluebear]

5. "In a closed meeting"

to make sure the cameras didn't pick up His Smirkiness' remarks.

[aquart]

2. C'mon. If George said it, you KNOW it's a lie.

[sonicx]

4. here's an idea...

help blacks live longer, moran!

[ultraist]

6. WHAT a fucking idiot to make that comment

You die sooner so you get screwed. PERIOD. End of discussion.

We should be OUTRAGED at this insensitivity and blatant biogtry.

He said nothing about addressing the reasons WHY blacks die younger and how it is yet ANOTHER indicator of racism.

BTW, how will outsourcing a social program to private stock companies allieviate this problem? Is GAMBLING your money a better way?

It's foolish to invest in stocks unless you really know the market. Might as well go to Vegas, that's how reckless it is if you don't know what you are doing.

Will they provide FREE EDUCATIONAL COURSES ON THE STOCK MARKET with this new privitization program? If so, I sure need to sign up for one. There is no way I would just gamble away that much money. I haven't invested in stocks because I have not taken the time to educate myself about it. I have investments in an area I am well educated on. People with common sense realize you shouldn't GAMBLE away your money. Informed calculated risks are one thing, blind gambling is something altogether different.

People who don't know the market well, lose a lot. My father in law for instance lost thousands last year. Dumb move.

Bush's remark also assumes that blacks will continue to die younger. Read between the lines, "we have no intentions of making sure blacks live longer. They will continue to die younger for decades to come." What a sick fuck!

[Bluebear]

8. Bush is playing the race card, big surprise

To convolute an already hot issue. This must be a signal to his base. "If them blacks there are complaining that they ain't getting enough benefits then there shore must be something wrong with it. Scrwe them! Go W!"

[babylonsister]

12. But he's not a racist, doncha know, cause

he hired Condi! How could he be? Yeah, right. I pray there's enough anger out there to maybe go fix something that really needs attention, like health care, unemployment, or perhaps what he ran on, homeland security and securing borders? But no, there's no payola in these issues for him and his buddies. Numbnuts...

[flordehinojos]

7. what else on heaven's earth could anyone of us expect from bab'sandpoppy's

progeny?

[Coastie for Truth]

10. Two Problems

1. Honest George is using "life expectancy from Birth" when he should be using "Life Expectancy from Age 25" -- that's what happens when you listen to DR N. Gregory Mankiw. (See footnote 1)

2. He could remedy the problem by improving Health Care Delivery.

Does he really think we are all as stupid as he is?

Footnote 1 - Mankiw is a friggin PhD economist. My PhD studies in economics were interrupted by an opportunity that I really could not refuse - kind of a White House Internship. Well, actually a Lewis B. Hershey - Lyndon Baines Johnson Traveling Fellowship in the Non-Peaceful Resolution of International Disputes, South East Asian Studies, Viet Namese Cuisine, Naval Architecture & Marine Mechanical Engineering (Theoretical and Applied), Communications Engineering, Ballistics, Leadership, Management, and "How To Win Friends and Influence People." And it was full time, 24 by 7, no time out for Senate campaigns in Alabama or attending Harvard Business School.

[Bluebear]

11. PS "Heritage Foundation" my ass. How much $$ are THEY getting from tax $?

In light of the recent pundit payola scandal?