Thursday, January 13, 2005

Cheney: Cutting Social Security Benefits Will Pull Many Americans Out of Poverty



from The Associated Press
Vice President Dick Cheney took on critics of the Bush administration's Social Security overhaul plans Thursday, arguing that channeling part of workers' salaries into the stock market would yield bigger retirement nest eggs and help pull many Americans out of poverty.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to see we've learned nothing from the stock market crash of 1929.

gecko said...

Your adding to the fearmongering by changing the title of the article. the only reference to "cutting benefits" was a non-reference:

Cheney followed President Bush's practice of framing Social Security's "coming crisis," while remaining silent on questions the administration has left unanswered, such as whether Bush envisions large-scale borrowing or future benefit cuts.Now, I believe that although privatization would limit future benefits for those who chose it, it is a voluntary thing isn't it?

J.R. Boyd said...

I changed the wording because I think it's more honest. That's going to be the effect. The administration's position on raising taxes is crystal clear. It's off the table. SS faces a "crisis" of funding, but funding SS is not an option. So you cut benefits and raise the retirement age. That's being "responsible." It just effects people. Institutions will be fine, and that's what counts. In fact, financial institutions on Wall St. would gain from managing private accounts. So that's great. Keep taxes low and make the service industries for profit. It increases the costs of living for the general population--that's true from health care to transportation to social security--let people pay the costs. Our system is designed to put public money in the hands of private power anyway; you will note that for all the bluster from "conservatives" about cutting government, the federal government is never reduced. It grows under every administration. It's just code for transferring costs to the public, and pocketing the profits privately. That's "reducing government." It's cost-transfer. And the government is tasked to facilitate it.

Raising the retirement age and accepting benefit cuts won't be voluntary. The idea is to scream about benefits cuts so people will get behind paying for privately managed accounts. Again, the additional costs go to the public, in the form of profits for the securities industry. The cuts would not be immediate, probably graduated. But "young people need to start realizing SS won't be there, etc." I'm paraphrasing from the Wall St Journal, et al. Just get people to accept the premise. That's what the current "crisis" is designed to do.