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To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (71615)	6/12/2001 11:07:25 PM
From: Lucretius	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116790

must be time for this rally to collapse too -vbg- LOL

To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (71615)	6/12/2001 11:29:44 PM
From: long-gone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116790

Notice how the tune changed from some of these same Senators?: Bush Social Security Plan Worries Women Senators June 12, 2001 6:48 pm EST By Donna Smith WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democratic women said on Tuesday a plan by President Bush to allow workers to invest some of their Social Security taxes in stocks and bonds could undermine benefits for women who tend to live longer and earn less than men. The 10 Democrats said in letter to Bush they were worried any plan developed by a White House commission that diverts payroll taxes to individual accounts would drain away money needed to guarantee benefits to women and others who earn the least but rely the most on Social Security for retirement. "You cannot count on the bull of political promise or a bear market, or worry about outliving an individual retirement account," Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland said at a news conference. "What you should be able to rely on is Social Security. Unfortunately, privatization does not provide women with a benefit that is reliable and undeniable, so it leaves open the possibility of benefit cuts," she added. The concerns raised by the women senators underscore the political problems faced by Bush as he prepares a proposal to overhaul the Social Security system and allow participants to invest part of their payroll taxes in financial markets. A commission asked by Bush to recommend ways to achieve that goal met for the first time on Monday amid criticism from labor unions and other groups that the panel was stacked in favor of privatization. The commission said it plans to issue two reports. The first will outline the financial strains faced by the Social Security system as the baby boom generation born between 1946 and 1964 begins to retire in the next decade. The second will recommend ways to set up individual Social Security accounts that participants could invest in stocks and bonds -- a measure advocated by Bush during his campaign for president. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH STOCKS CITED The senators said the stock market can be a risky place to invest money from a program that many elderly women rely on as the major source of income. "I can tell my colleagues something about investing in the stock market," Maria Cantwell of Washington said, adding that there was "nothing secure" about investing Social Security in stocks. As a former executive with RealNetworks Inc., a top Internet media software company, Cantwell's personal wealth was tied to the company's stock which topped $90 a share in February 2000, and sank as low as $5 a share in March this year when other high flying tech stocks on the Nasdaq slid down. In their letter to Bush, the senators said they would oppose any plan recommended by the commission that failed to provide a guaranteed, lifetime benefit that was protected against inflation. A guaranteed benefit was crucial, they said, because women tend to live longer and earn less than men and spend more time off payrolls to take care of families. They also said any private investment accounts should be established as a supplement to Social Security, not a substitute for benefits and any plan must protect benefits for disabled workers. Since its founding in the Great Depression of the 1930s, Social Security has worked on a "pay as you go" system in which current workers pay for current retirees. The program collects far more in payroll taxes than it pays out in benefits, but that will change as the baby boom generation retires. By 2016, benefit payments will begin to outstrip tax collections and the program will begin to dip into its trust funds to meet obligations. By 2038 the trust fund will be exhausted.