Bush v. Bush on Social Security, or
A Textbook Case of Misleading the People, in Bush's Own (i.e. Luntz's) Words.
GW Bush, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, March 30, 2005
...what happens is we take your money, we pay money out for the promises for those people who have retired, and if we've got anything left over, we spend it on things other than Social Security.... And what's left are a pile of IOUs, paper.
You've seen it before, but wait till you see a whole series of contradictory statements put together. There a suprise in every speech! Take a peek below the fold....
GW Bush, Parkersburg, West Virginia, April, 5, 2005:
There is no "trust fund," just IOUs that I saw firsthand, that future generations will pay -- will pay for either in higher taxes, or reduced benefits, or cuts to other critical government programs.
The office here in Parkersburg stores those IOUs. They're stacked in a filing cabinet. Imagine -- the retirement security for future generations is sitting in a filing cabinet. It's time to strengthen and modernize Social Security for future generations with growing assets that you can control, that you call your own -- assets that the government cannot take away.
Later, in the
same speech:
I think people ought to have...the chance to tap into the power of compound interest; the ability, if they so choose, to watch their money grow in an account, a savings account of bonds and stocks. That's why I proposed that Congress consider allowing younger workers to set aside part of their Social Security contributions in a voluntary personal retirement account.
...
I hear from a lot of younger folks, a lot of your grandchildren are saying, what you going to do about it, Mr. President, and, by the way, just give me a chance to make decisions for myself; give me a chance to build up hard assets, instead of paper assets in a file cabinet.
GW Bush, Press Conference, April 28, 2005:
I know some Americans have reservations about investing in the stock market, so I propose that one investment option consist entirely of Treasury bonds, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government.
(Emphasis mine.)
So...Bush wants to create private accounts so young folk like me can invest in a "conservative mix of stocks and [treasury] bonds," which are "assets that the government cannot take away, in part because the bonds are "backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government," despite being "just IOUs," "paper assets in a file cabinet" instead of "hard assets." Uh, yeah...that makes perfect sense....
If you run across anyone who still doesn't get it after reading Bush's demonstrably misleading statements, try these points from the proverbial horse's mouth:
According to the Congressional Budget Office, Social Security "is financed largely by a tax on workers' wages (a payroll tax). The revenues from that tax are credited to two accounts ('trust funds') in the federal budget, one for each of the program's two parts: Old-Age and Survivors Insurance, and Disability Insurance. Those trust funds, which are maintained in the U.S. Treasury, function mainly as accounting mechanisms to track Social Security's revenues and spending and to monitor whether the program's designated sources of revenue are producing enough money to cover expected benefits. The program's benefits, administrative costs, and other authorized expenditures are paid from those funds. Balances in the funds are held in the form of special interest-bearing Treasury securities."
Moreover, according to the Social Security Administration's trustees, "All securities held by the trust funds are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government, as required by law. Those currently held by the OASI Trust Fund are special issues (i.e., securities sold only to the trust funds). These are of two types: short-term certificates of indebtedness and long-term bonds. The certificates of indebtedness are issued on a daily basis for the investment of receipts not required to meet current expenditures, and they mature on the next June 30 following the date of issue. Special-issue bonds, on the other hand, are normally acquired only when special issues of either type mature on June 30. The amount of bonds acquired on June 30 is equal to the amount of special issues maturing, less amounts required to meet expenditures on that day."
According to the Bureau of Public Debt, Treasury securities are "a safe and secure investment option because the full faith and credit of the United States government guarantees that interest and principal payments will be paid on time. Also, most Treasury securities are liquid, which means they can easily be sold for cash." They are also "debt instruments. The U.S. Treasury issues securities to raise the money needed to operate the Federal Government and to pay off maturing obligations - its [sic] debt, in other words."
(The Bush quotes were posted this morning at my blog, realitique. The gov't info was posted in response to my lamentably pro-Bush readers.)