Dems Rebuff Bush's Social Security plans

[lancdem]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=1&u=/ap/20050426/ap_on_go_co/social_security&sid=84439559

Dems kick ass!

[maddezmom]

1. a snip from the link

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON - From the buttoned-down confines of a Senate hearing room to a boisterous outdoor rally nearby, Democrats took on President Bush and his Social Security proposals with gusto on Tuesday and rebuffed pleas for bipartisanship from frustrated Republicans.

"If he's going out to push for privatization, let's help him pack," Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said to cheers from a sun-splashed crowd on the lawn across the street from the Capitol. He was ridiculing Bush's heavily publicized 60-day tour to build support for his proposals.


"Personal accounts unravels the Social Security safety net in a way that makes it hard to find common ground," said Sen. Ron Wyden (news, bio, voting record) of Oregon, one of several Democrats who criticized the president's recommendations at a lengthy Senate Finance Committee hearing.


The Republicans didn't just sit and take it.


"Those of you that are bad-mouthing every other suggestion out there, suggest your own plans," Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley (news, bio, voting record), the normally mild-mannered committee chairman erupted at one point during the hearing. "Doing nothing is not an option, because doing nothing is a cut in benefits," he added. "Grandpa Grassley gets Social Security, but my granddaughter, when she retires 56 years from now, if we do nothing, is going to get this cut that you're talking about."
more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=512&ncid=703&e=1&u=/ap/20050426/ap_on_go_co/social_security

[cal04]

2. These pukes have GOT to be kidding

the dems should have thrown that word right in their face(bipartisanship)


Democrats took on President Bush and his Social Security proposals with gusto on Tuesday and rebuffed pleas for bipartisanship from frustrated Republicans.

[Pirate Smile]

3. Democrats Stage Rally for Social Security

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON - From the buttoned-down confines of a Senate hearing room to a boisterous outdoor rally nearby, Democrats took on President Bush and his Social Security proposals with gusto on Tuesday and rebuffed pleas for bipartisanship from frustrated Republicans.

"If he's going out to push for privatization, let's help him pack," Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said to cheers from a sun-splashed crowd on the lawn across the street from the Capitol. He was ridiculing Bush's heavily publicized 60-day tour to build support for his proposals.

"Personal accounts unravels the Social Security safety net in a way that makes it hard to find common ground," said Sen. Ron Wyden (news, bio, voting record) of Oregon, one of several Democrats who criticized the president's recommendations at a lengthy Senate Finance Committee hearing.

-snip-
Taken together, the hearing and the rally underscored the hardening of partisan differences in the three months since Bush called on Congress to enact solvency legislation that included an option for younger workers to invest part of their payroll taxes on their own.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=1&u=/ap/20050426/ap_on_go_co/social_security&sid=84439559

[rodeodance]

4. Its current average rating is 2.60 with 516 vote(s).--seems lots do not

like this story.

[NNN0LHI]

5. Protesters speak out against Bush plan for Social Security

http://www.whbf.com/Global/story.asp?S=3263546

CAPITOL HILL Several hundred protesters gathered at the U-S Capitol today to urge members of Congress to block President Bush's plans for Social Security.

At a rally just a few hundred yards from the Capitol building, they cheered lawmakers who have vowed to oppose the president's plan to partially privatize Social Security.

The protesters say they're worried about depending on the stock market after watching the ups and downs of the past few weeks. And many say they fear the president intends to dismantle the Social Security program.

more

[rodeodance]

6. to dismantle SS completely IS Jr's goal.

...And many say they fear the president intends to dismantle the Social Security program.

[toopers]

7. I am still not understand . . .

what is wrong with investing a little of my money in private funds for Social Security?

[Frances]

8. It's called an IRA

You can invest your money into an IRA or a 401K or a Sep IRA and get tax relief from doing so.

That's what I have done. BUT I do NOT want to lose my social security. Social security is an insurance plan backed by the government. I want that. If you checked the stock market today, you can see why a person needs more than one plan to avoid eating dog food in old age.

[Iowa]

13. C'mon toopers!

Don't swallow the big Bush lie.

First, as the previous poster stated, you already have options to invest in private accounts (IRA, Roth, 401(k), 403(b), SIMPLE IRA, SEP, etc.). You can also invest in taxable accounts. I did both. My investments did very well and I was able to retire early last year at age 51. And I never earned more than about $48,000. You don't need the Bush "plan" to secure your financial future! In fact, the Bush private accounts wouldn't amount to squat on a personal level. You'd likely be FAR better off under the current system.

Second, IMHO, the timing for private plans couldn't be worse. The financial markets have done extremely well during much of the 80s and 90s. We're overdue for a long decline, or perhaps a long sideways market. Currently my allocation is heavily tilted toward guaranteed investments. Bush wants to shovel your SS money into stocks and bonds at precisely the very worst time, IMHO. He could care less - it's just a gift to Wall Street.

Third, SS is a guaranteed benefit. View it as insurance - not an investment. It's your safety net, and you don't want to be operating without a net. It is precisely because you have that safety net/insurance that you are able to take some risks with your personal investments in an effort to improve your standard of living in retirement. Bush would remove your safety net.

Fourth, SS is structured so that part of the FICA tax coming out of your check today goes to your parents/grandparents, and part goes to build the trust fund for the large boomer generation approaching retirement. Your money isn't going into some "account" with your name on it. The current structure enabled the program to get off the ground immediately when it was first created. It's a pact between generations: My parents covered my grandparents, so I'll cover my parents, with the understanding that my kids will cover me, and so on. It's a good, decent, moral arrangement, and Bush wants to destroy it. He wants to break the generational pact by screwing workers who have already contributed to their parents and grandparents for years and years. And what's particularly sinister about it is this: he's trying to accomplish his ends by setting one generation against another. Fortunately he miscalculated - the parents of the boomers care about their kids, so they overwhelmingly reject his manipulative scheme.

[toopers]

16. Iowa - thanks for the info. It is something to consider.

The only problem I have is that I really do not trust government that much. I kind of feel that Progressives are the lesser of two evils, that is why I support them. I do invest my post tax dollars in various retirement accounts. However, I do not trust our government not to change the rules when they wish too. I do like the idea of being able to invest more of my money where I see fit. I do think that it is fair for me to be able to assign my investments over to my loved ones if I am not lucky enough to live to retirement age. I guess that is the thing that kind of looks attractive to being able to invest my own SS payments, the fact that it is available to me, or my family. I am sure that I will be flamed for some of my statements, but I am just trying to get educated.

[truthisfreedom]

9. Dems Rebuff GOP Pleas on Social Security [AP]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050426/D89NCK4G0.html

Dems Rebuff GOP Pleas on Social Security


Apr 26, 7:08 PM (ET)

By DAVID ESPO

(AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) - From the buttoned-down confines of a Senate hearing room to a boisterous outdoor rally nearby, Democrats took on President Bush and his Social Security proposals with gusto on Tuesday and rebuffed pleas for bipartisanship from frustrated Republicans.
"If he's going out to push for privatization, let's help him pack," Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said to cheers from a sun-splashed crowd on the lawn across the street from the Capitol. He was ridiculing Bush's heavily publicized 60-day tour to build support for his proposals.
"Personal accounts unravels the Social Security safety net in a way that makes it hard to find common ground," said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, one of several Democrats who criticized the president's recommendations at a lengthy Senate Finance Committee hearing.

<snip>

House Republicans, confronting solid Democratic opposition and fearing a political backlash in 2006, have made it clear they want the Senate to move first on legislation that would make major changes in Social Security.

<snip>

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who lost to Bush in the 2004 election, said it was the president who had failed to put a plan on the table. Referring to a proposal he made during his bid for the White House, Kerry called for repealing Bush-era tax cuts for the nation's top wage-earners to help shore up Social Security's finances.
"We're going to do something," he said of the need to address Social Security funding difficulties. "We're not going to do nothing."
<snip>

[Teaser]

10. Someone tell Wyden

that they're "private accounts" not "personal accounts"

[Straight Shooter]

14. That's my Senator. I'll call tomorrow and reinforce the message.

Private. Private. Private.

(Actually, AFAIC, there isn't that much "private" about these accounts, anyway. It's a misnomer. "Personal" is even worse.)

[Arugula Latte]

11. Gosh, since these Repubs have been SO sweet and nice to us

I think we OWE it to them to help them out.

BWAAAAA HA HA HA HA!!!!

[saracat]

12. Now, unlike the yet to be proven filibuster strategy, this is worth

cheering about. Kerry and Durbin rock! That you Dems!:toast:

[MontageOfFreedom]

15. I keep having to just ask this question..

Is there really anything social at all, about this security?