Posted on 03/06/2005 1:59:03 PM PST by CHARLITE
The following radio ad was run yesterday in all vulnerable Congressional districts throughout America by the Democrat National Committee:
"This week, President Bush brought his risky plan for Social Security to South Bend. A plan that would end Social Security guaranteed benefits and tie our retirement savings to the ups and downs of the stock market. How does President Bush plan to pay for this risky scheme. He plans to borrow $4.5 Trillion from foreign countries and then he will cut benefits by up to 40%. Cutting benefits and borrowing trillions from foreign countries will not solve Social Security problems, it will make them worse." --- DNC Radio Ad aired 3/4/05.
Ten. Count them. Ten lies in 85 words. Pretty efficient wouldn't you say. Unfortunate for Democrats, their history of lies, deceptions and omissions will come back to bite then. They are making a record of mistakes only fools make.
1. Risky Plan. If personal accounts are so risky why doesn't every Democrat Senator and Congressman reject their own personal accounts at the government's Thrift Savings plan. Because 20 years of experience proves they are not risky.
2. End Social Security Benefits. Bush merely wants to increase the benefits to be equivalent to that Congressmen get (in addition to their $15,000 guaranteed monthly pension for just spending 2 years in Congress).
3. Guaranteed Benefits. There are no stinking guaranteed benefits. Democrat solutions will raise taxes or reduce benefits. There is no guarantee they won't do again what they've done 20 times before.
4. Risky scheme. See (1) above.
5. Tie benefits to the ups and downs of the stock market. The plan outlined by Bush states one needn't join the plan. One can continue with the old plan. One needn't invest in stocks. The plan will allow for investment in US guaranteed bonds.
6. He plans to borrow $4.5 Trillion. After 229 years of its existence, the external national debt of the United States is only $4.5 Trillion. The ad writer doesn't know a trillion from a billion from a box of nails. There never will be any true borrowing. For every dollar converted to personal accounts will reduce our "real" unfunded liability by a like amount.
7. Borrow from foreign countries. What utter nonsense. Only 43% of the $4.5 trillion of external debt is owned by foreigners, the balance by Americans. According to the Fed, the net worth of American household is $48 Trillion AFTER deducting $9 Trillion of consumer debt. Please would someone read what we pay these bureaucrats to keep track of.
8. Cut benefits by 40%. Bush's plan will increase benefits by a minimum of 300%. In some cases geometrically more than the paltry monthly sum it presently provides.
9. Not solve Social Securities problems. The Ponzi scheme in place for 70 years is not worth saving. It should be replaced.
10. It will make SS problems worse. The answer to that question is the real one the Democrats are asking. Losing their Social Security platform will sink their boat and they know it. "Worse" is what they are and will remain if they continue on the path of raising taxes and cutting benefits. Bush's plan will liquidate the entire unfunded liability.
I cannot tell if the ad is a fake ad by some group calling themselves the "Democrat National Committee" instead of the "Democratic National Committee" or if the ad is simply wrong.
If the latter, it isn't a "fake ad".
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