Posts filed under “Social Security”
$4.95 Million or Nothing at All?
In a recent mandatory disclosure, we learn that: The President reported having at least $4.95 million in Treasury notes… Or are those notes just worthless pieces of paper like the Social Security trust fund? Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postShare on Facebookshare via RedditShare with StumblersTweet about itBookmark in BrowserTell a friend
Disabling Social Security
Back in February, at a Florida stop on his Social Security misinformation tour where he abused the English language as if it was a piñata, the President took a question from an attendee: Q: I do have a question. I’m on Social Security. THE PRESIDENT: Right. Q: And I’m disabled, and I just wondered if [...]
Making Chicken Salad Out of Chicken Shit is Hard Work
After 60 days traveling the country and misleading fawning, hand-picked audiences about a Social Security privatization plan that he hasn’t yet provided details for, 10% fewer Americans support the President on Social Security now than did two months ago. Two main concerns persist, and last night’s prime-time press conference did nothing to change that dynamic. [...]
Five Months Later in Social Security Reform
After five months of doom-laden projections, important file cabinets, misleading advertisements, antique cars, pre-screened “town meetings” and unfortunate terms such as “flat bust”, the drive to reform Social Security is finally moving from moving from conjecture to an actual plan. On Tuesday the Senate Finance Committee will start hearings aimed at eventually producing some sort [...]
Invincibility Fades
Civilization is so littered with failure that those who enjoy even a fleeting measure of success are usually afforded wide latitude in subsequent endeavors. I’m permanently fascinated with people’s responses to victory and defeat, whether in politics, business, entertainment or life itself. In 2000, George W. Bush ran for President on a very simple platform [...]
Pieces of Paper
“These pieces of paper are as worthless as my soul.” A while back, we discussed the importance of the Social Security trust fund and why defaulting on it would be a very bad idea. If you haven’t read it already, take a minute to learn why default would rank very high on the list of [...]
Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures
So it seems like the effort to destr….er, reform Social Security has hit a few snags. The Democrats have unified against ripping apart the program, certain Republicans have decided that it is too risky, and the public has reacted with skepticism. In the most recent New York Times poll, only 30% of respondents approved of [...]
Swimming With the Sharks
“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” – Gordon Gekko, 1987 The following disclaimer or one like it runs on just about every bond offering, mutual fund prospectus, and investment house advertisement: “Past performance is not necessarily an indication of future returns.” Yet despite the Bush Administration’s insistence on privatizing Social Security by [...]
Holy Rolling High Rollers
Joshua Micah Marshall, Talking Points Memo February 2005: We’re already hearing that [Karl] Rove has tapped Bill Bennett to take up his anti-AARP slime crusade. Joshua Green, The Washington Monthly June 2003 The Washington Monthly and Newsweek have learned that over the last decade [Bill] Bennett has made dozens of trips to casinos in Atlantic [...]
The AARP Was in Cambodia on Christmas 1968!
Anyone who was paying even the slightest attention to the last election has heard about the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth, the hit squad sent to tarnish John Kerry’s war record and put his campaign on the defensive. With that mission accomplished, many of the same consultants and media experts have been tapped for a [...]