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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wayners who wrote (663099)	11/30/2004 7:03:15 AM
From: tonto	Respond to of 769670

The article does not show how much it will cost us in total dollar terms. Articles against privatization always project costs, which would have to be funded from our taxes. The same should hold true here. What are the projected total tax increase costs with these ideas. Either way, we will have to pay.

To: Wayners who wrote (663099)	11/30/2004 8:17:40 AM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 769670

"There are some really good ideas in there." Yep, there are. Why should government employees be able to opt out for a higher-paying system then the one the rest of us have? (No good reason I can think of.) Raising the caps slowly and a modest amount (back to about where they were earlier in the program's history): also a good idea. A reasonable estate tax? (Better then a broad-based tax on wages, I'd say. Personally, I think ALL income --- regardless of source --- should be taxed at one low, fair rate. Why the Hell anyone would support letting the government pick winners and losers in the economy, by assigning favorable tax breaks to particular KINDS of income, I'll NEVER KNOW.) Now, I DO support privitization of the SS system (or, say, up to 50% of it, at least)... but NOT at the cost of MASSIVE TAX INCREASES or RUINOUS FEDERAL BORROWING. Likely --- because of the budget mess we have gotten into, AND because of demographics --- transition to an investment-based retirement system will have to take 2 or 3 generations before it can be complete, now.... We could have done it at the start of the 'seventies, or in the 'sixties ideally... but now it will take a long time to phase in to keep from killing our economy.