Milking the Scared Cow

[wjhii]

**Milking the Scared Cow
**By William John Hagan
May 11, 2005

What is the one thing that the Democratic Party, the AARP, and the AFL-CIO all have in common? They all delight in scaring the hell out of old people. Al Gore may not have created the Internet but he certainly created the left-wing’s strategy opposing Social Security reform. Al’s idea was to create an imaginary “lock box” for the money withheld for Social Security; our government would neither invest this money nor lend it out. What went into Social Security would stay in Social Security. The only small problem with the plan is basic accounting; by 2018 Social Security will pay out more money than it takes in and will therefore bankrupt itself by 2042.

If we continue to follow the Clinton-Gore legacy of inertia the system will be bankrupt by 2042. Neither Al Gore, as a member of Congress, Senator Hilary Clinton or any other current Democratic member of Congress has ever purposed a single piece of legislation to protect the future of Social Security. The system was created by an act of Congress and can only be reformed through congressional legislation. President Bush is constitutionally powerless to change Social Security. The needed reforms he is currently proposing are recommendations to Congress. The President’s powers derive from the Constitution. He is a part of the executive branch: the President proposes, Congress disposes. Only Congress can reform Social Security through legislation which Republicans seem willing to do. Except Democrats have not only stone-walled all attempts at “self-help”, they have failed to produce one piece of legislation to reform a system that they know will be bankrupt in most of our lifetimes. They have simply been scaring the elderly and milking this scared cow for votes while President Bush has been working on a plan to secure Social Security for future generations. (The remainder of this article can be read at nbeaujon.com/ss_reform.htm )

 

[David_Paul]

A little secret those government union workers protesting against individual plans within Social Security don’t want many people to know about:

“While coverage is compulsory for most types of employment, approximately 6.8 million workers did not have any coverage under Social Security in 1999. The majority of these noncovered workers are in State and local governments or the Federal Government.”

Source: The Office of Research, Evaluation and Statistics; Social Security Administration

Yup, they have private plans. 100% invested in the markets. The same people who say it is “too risky” for workers in the private sector to put just a fraction of their Social Security taxes into the markets.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” [H. L. Mencken]

Source: boortz.com

Alan

 

[AlanFromWichita]

wjhii:

Except Democrats have not only stone-walled all attempts at “self-help”, they have failed to produce one piece of legislation to reform a system that they know will be bankrupt in most of our lifetimes. They have simply been scaring the elderly and milking this scared cow for votes while President Bush has been working on a plan to secure Social Security for future generations.

Not to mention what they are doing to avoid votes on judicial nominees.

The only thing that’s likely to change anything is if we get at least 65 Republican senators (61 for anti-filibuster majority, 4 extras for crossovers).

Then again, that much majority of either party is kind of scary.

Alan

 

[David_Paul]

AlanFromWichita:

The only thing that’s likely to change anything is if we get at least 65 Republican senators (61 for anti-filibuster majority, 4 extras for crossovers).

Then again, that much majority of either party is kind of scary.

Sure didn’t work out when the Democratic Party had crushing majorities. But for once in my lifetime (and that of nearly everyone alive today) it would be nice if the GOP had something on the order of what Democrats had in these congresses:

Clinton 1993-1995
House
Dem 258
Rep 176
Other 1

Senate
Dem 57
Rep 43

Carter 1977-1979
House
Dem 292
Rep 143

Senate
Dem 61
Rep 38
Other 1

LBJ 1965-1967
House
Dem 295
Rep 140

Senate
Dem 68
Rep 32
Other 1

FDR 1937-1939
House
Dem 331
Rep 89
Other 13

Senate
Dem 76
Rep 16
Other 4

Considering the above, it is amusing to hear Democrats complain about America becoming a one party state with the modest majority the GOP holds today.