Express Yourself!

<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" color="#ffffff" size="3">The </font><a href="http://www.democrats.reform.house.gov/"><font face="Times New Roman" color="#ffffff" size="3">Committee on Government Reform</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#ffffff"> has recently issued a report called,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span></font></font></font><a href="http://www.democrats.reform.house.gov/Documents/20050228105615-40334.pdf"><font face="Times New Roman" color="#ffffff" size="3">“Politicization of the Social Security Administration” </font></a><font face="Times New Roman" color="#ffffff" size="3">in which concrete evidence is cited showing the transformation of the Social Security Administration <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from an administrative body to a politicized body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Since the appointment by George W. Bush of </font><a href="http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/barnhart.htm"><font face="Times New Roman" color="#ffffff" size="3">Jo Anne Barnhart </font></a><font face="Times New Roman" color="#ffffff" size="3">to the agency’s Commissioner, communication from the agency has dramatically changed in tone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>The message has essentially shifted from, “Will Social Security be there for you? Absolutely!” in 2000 to “Social Security must change to meet future challenges” in 2004.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font color="#ffffff"></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" color="#ffffff" size="3"> </font></p><p><font color="#ffffff"></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" color="#ffffff" size="3">We need the Social Security Administration to carry out its objectives of administering Social Security benefits and not an arm of the Bush Administration propaganda machine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>We have already seen the </font><a href="http://turing.plymouth.edu/~estiller/blog/archives/20050129.html"><font face="Times New Roman" color="#ffffff" size="3">Bush Administration bribing “journalists”</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" color="#ffffff" size="3"> to support their point of view on issues ranging from “No Child Left Behind” to Bush’s marriage initiative. Enough is enough!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>No more propaganda!</font></p>

<p><a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17771">Paul Krugman's article</a>, <em>America's Senior Moment</em>, in the New York Review of Books clarifies some important misconceptions concerning Social Security.  One important issue to keep in mind is that current Social Security receipts fund current retirees.  If you divert any to private accounts, you will feel the pinch immediately.  So, privatizing is the surest way to kill Social Security.  An interesting misconception that privatizers like to float is that historically 16 earners supported 1 retiree, and during the projected crises 2 earners will support each retiree.  Although this fact is true, Social Security was able to run a surplus with 3 earners for every retired person, since the 1970's.</p><p /><p>Apparently <a href="http://www.thinkingpeace.com/pages/arts2/arts343.html">Roger Lowenstein</a> caught Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute doing a little fuzzy math with Social Security projections.  Whenever Social Security runs a surplus those figures become part of the federal budget and disappear.  Yet, whenever the system runs a deficit these figures are retained for justifying the crises.</p><p>If economic conditions exist to supprt private accounts profitably, then Social Security will remaim solvent.  Bush, keep your hands out of the cookie jar!</p>

<p>Here we go again.  The Bush administration is trying to use scare tactics to rally people behind his Social Security privatization scheme:</p><p><a title="Scare tactics" href="http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/2020038p-8404266c.html">Democrats and AARP officials say the administration is using fear tactics to push through a program that they say will benefit only private investment banks -- to the tune of $2 trillion. Bob Jackson, AARP's North Carolina state director, said his organization is gearing up for &quot;the fight of our lives.&quot;</a> <font color="#00cc66">*</font></p><p>Somehow the Bush administration convinced many of the American people that Iraq posed a threat to <strong>OUR </strong>safety.  Saddam was clearly a threat to the Iraqi people, but I believe many Americans feared for their own safety by erroneously associating Iraq with 9/11/01.   Please do not fall for his latest campaign of disinformation.</p><p>^{<font color="#00cc66">* If you are asked to login in - simply delete your cookies to view the article without login.</font>}</p>