Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Non-Tech : The ENRON Scandal -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Patricia Trinchero who wrote (2813)	2/14/2002 1:35:02 AM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 5185

You will love this, it's hysterical: witcity.com

To: Patricia Trinchero who wrote (2813)	2/14/2002 2:13:54 AM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 5185

Enron Mentioned in Social Security Debate Thu Feb 14, 1:29 AM ET By Donna Smith WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats opposed to President Bush sites)'s plan to create Social Security investment accounts said on Wednesday the Enron debacle shows the risks of privatizing the retirement program. "Privatization plans, including the proposals put forward by the president's Social Security reform commission, would take away the safety from the safety net, and turn the idea of a rainy day fund into a sink or swim proposition," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut. "If you don't choose wisely, you lose badly." Lieberman, whose Governmental Affairs Committee is one of a number of congressional panels investigating the collapse of the Houston-based energy giant, joined other congressional Democrats to criticize Social Security privatization. They were joined by Enron employees Louis Allen and Deborah Perrotta who lost most of their retirement savings in the Enron collapse. Thousands of Enron employees lost much of their retirement savings because their company-administered accounts were heavily loaded with Enron stock that now is nearly worthless. The Enron debacle has spurred calls for reform of 401(k) retirement accounts to promote greater diversification. Bush reiterated his support for Social Security investment accounts in his State of the Union address to Congress in January. Last year he established a bipartisan Social Security commission, which outlined three possible private account plans in a report to the White House in December. But the White House push for Social Security reform has been put on hold at least through the November congressional elections. Supporters of private investment accounts say the program can be designed to minimize risk and argue that without reform the Social Security program is not viable in the long term. "There is no relationship whatsoever between Enron and the type of Social Security proposals people are talking about," Michael Tanner, director of the Cato Institute project on Social Security, told Reuters. Most proposals involve broadly diversified portfolios that would not allow an individual to put all of his or her Social Security money into a single stock, he said. Democratic opponents argued there was no way to design a private account program that would be immune from stock market volatility and risk. "There is no real sense that you are going to be secure by investing in stocks," said Sen. Jon Corzine, a New Jersey Democrat who is a former co-chairman of New York investment company Goldman Sachs Group Inc. co-chairman. "This is a bad idea whose time has not come." story.news.yahoo.com