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To: Amy J who wrote (26103)	12/16/2004 11:21:06 PM
From: Les H	Respond to of 306849

[quote]He essentially increased fees by 40% without increasing benefits. You don't hear this from the media, because it's too complicated. Bush has figured out the system: he can raise rates drastically without directly saying so.[/quote] He's also figured out a way to use these programs to funnel increases in payments to his contributors. The biggest beneficiaries of the drug bill were the purveyors of medical goods and services. Everything I've read shows very few seniors are signing up for the plan.

To: Amy J who wrote (26103)	12/17/2004 3:05:07 PM
From: Les H	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 306849

RE: "There was one report that suggested Bush's change for SS is to purely reduce the benefits for the younger generation, indirectly so thru privatization. But the younger generation would rather see privatization since no one believes SS will be around. " Sounds like it. The current proposal is to permit younger workers to invest 2 percent of their income (or roughly 16 percent of their SS taxes) into investment accounts in exchange for a 40 percent reduction in their claims on future Social Security benefits.

To: Amy J who wrote (26103)	12/19/2004 1:28:12 PM
From: bentway	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 306849

SS gets slammed by all, yet it's the most efficient benefit plan out there, with administration consuming less than 1% of what it takes in. Compare that to youo 401k's fees. Generations of people have gone into the system and been beneficiaries until they died after saying there whole lives that they wouldn't get their benefits. The system could be funded for all time by merely removing Bush's tax cut for the top 1% of taxpayers and redirecting it to SS. It could be easily made solvent by removing or raising the cap on FICA It's not in nearly as much trouble as the Bushies would have you believe, since it is currently solvent for perhaps the next 40 years. My own thought is that Bush is attempting to finagle a way for the government to not repay the piles of IOU's slipped into the whimsical "lockbox".