http://dailykos.com/story/2005/2/3/124657/0595
Bush's "19 words"
by kos
Thu Feb 3rd, 2005 at 09:46:57 PST
Bush said:
And best of all, the money in the account is yours, and the government can never take it away.
Lies.
As the WaPo explains: If a worker sets aside $1,000 a year for 40 years, and earns 4 percent annually on investments, the account would grow to $99,800 in today's dollars, but the government would keep $78,700 -- or about 80 percent of the account. The remainder, $21,100, would be the worker's. With a 4.6 percent average gain over inflation, the government keeps more than 70 percent. With the CBO's 3.3 percent rate, the worker is left with nothing but the guaranteed benefit.
The wingers loved to dismiss Bush's Yellowcake lie by counting words.
So we'll spare them the trouble -- this one was 19 words long.
Update: A reader who understand this stuff better than me writes: I see from the early comments that people find this hard to believe. And it is astonishing -- but completely true. The policy wonks call this the "clawback" provision -- the government 'claws back' most of what you make to fund the system. In fact, they claw back the principal plus the assumed 3% annual gain EVEN FOR A WORKER WHO EARNED LESS THAN 3%, so you could earn 2% a year and lose $$$ on the deal! As for why they do it: because if they didn't, they would basically have to wipe out the guaranteed benefit entirely to make the numbers add up.
Warning: next administration lie will be: "No, no, you can keep all of your account -- it's the guaranteed benefit that is reduced." Technically true but a canard, because the benefit reduction is based entirely on how much you put in your account. And the 'clawback' terminology tells you exactly what this is about -- taking back the private account earnings. (But you can see the political genius of this design: it will appear to people that they got a lot of $$$ from their private account but almost nothing from the "old SS system," destroying public support for the system.) And BTW, this is all IN ADDITION to the cuts in guaranteed benefits Bush is expected to make for all retirees, regardless of whether you choose to put $$ into an account.
Bush's "19 words"
by kos
Thu Feb 3rd, 2005 at 09:46:57 PST
Bush said:
And best of all, the money in the account is yours, and the government can never take it away.
Lies.
As the WaPo explains: If a worker sets aside $1,000 a year for 40 years, and earns 4 percent annually on investments, the account would grow to $99,800 in today's dollars, but the government would keep $78,700 -- or about 80 percent of the account. The remainder, $21,100, would be the worker's. With a 4.6 percent average gain over inflation, the government keeps more than 70 percent. With the CBO's 3.3 percent rate, the worker is left with nothing but the guaranteed benefit.
The wingers loved to dismiss Bush's Yellowcake lie by counting words.
So we'll spare them the trouble -- this one was 19 words long.
Update: A reader who understand this stuff better than me writes: I see from the early comments that people find this hard to believe. And it is astonishing -- but completely true. The policy wonks call this the "clawback" provision -- the government 'claws back' most of what you make to fund the system. In fact, they claw back the principal plus the assumed 3% annual gain EVEN FOR A WORKER WHO EARNED LESS THAN 3%, so you could earn 2% a year and lose $$$ on the deal! As for why they do it: because if they didn't, they would basically have to wipe out the guaranteed benefit entirely to make the numbers add up.
Warning: next administration lie will be: "No, no, you can keep all of your account -- it's the guaranteed benefit that is reduced." Technically true but a canard, because the benefit reduction is based entirely on how much you put in your account. And the 'clawback' terminology tells you exactly what this is about -- taking back the private account earnings. (But you can see the political genius of this design: it will appear to people that they got a lot of $$$ from their private account but almost nothing from the "old SS system," destroying public support for the system.) And BTW, this is all IN ADDITION to the cuts in guaranteed benefits Bush is expected to make for all retirees, regardless of whether you choose to put $$ into an account.
