Beating a Dead Horse

The Republican-controlled congress now has six days to pass legislation involving the restructuring of social security before the end of this session. Many House and Senate Republicans, in light of recent polls, are slipping away from the President's proposal, which would allow younger workers (i.e., those not currently approaching retirement age) to establish private investment accounts for part of their social security wages, while accepting a reduction in guaranteed benefits from the government. The polls are showing a severe lack of support for the President's proposal, citing the fact that no very specific plan has been laid out for the public and that private investment accounts can fail, due to fluxuations in the stock market and poorly-educated investors. Republican aides have also claimed that even those workers who choose not to take the investment option will very likely face a reduced guaranteed benefit upon retirement. The President has pushed his proposal hard in the last month, traveling the nation and campaigning for his proposal in several different states. While the proposal may again face congress as soon as next year, the veteran believes that if the President doesn't make major changes to the policy and more effectively market his proposal to the American public, chances are that the proposal will not pass during President Bush's term in the White House. While the veteran concedes that certain well-educated and option savvy workers may be able to turn the proposal to their financial advantage, one must look at the established fact that the average American worker is not proficient in the language of investments, and will, quite surely, lose money on the deal. Also, the possibility that workers who opt out of the private accounts will still face a lower benefit from the government has shut the ears of many to the proposal. The veteran also wonders where the President intends to get the funding to put this proposal into effect, should it pass at some time in the future, as the current administration seems preoccupied with slashing taxes and social programs, while financing the bones of what is left with massive international borrowing (this is why the economy is supposedly getting better; we're borrowing massive amounts of money from other countries to pour into our struggling nation). The veteran would like to know how the Bush administration intends to pay this money back. Who's going to get the bill, you ask? WE ARE. And that's all I have to say about that.