Posted on 02/04/2005 1:39:21 PM PST by Graybeard58
The Democratic response to President Bush's State of the Union address gave most Americans their first good look at new Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. They had to come away unimpressed by his diatribe and annoyed by his shamelessness.
Sen. Reid pitched the same tired, government-centered, anti-business, anti-taxpayer, entitlement-laden Democratic platform that voters rejected anew in November. He spoke in code to Democratic special interests. He even invoked God to try to trick Americans into believing the party of secularists had found religion on religion.
But it was his demagoguery of Social Security reform that stood out: "(I)t's more like Social Security roulette.
"Democrats are all for giving Americans more of a say and more choices when it comes to their retirement savings, but that doesn't mean taking Social Security's guarantee and gambling with it. And that's coming from a senator who represents Las Vegas."
Gambling and investing are similar only in that people put up their money in hopes of making more money. But they present two distinctly different sets of risk. In casinos, people bet on games of chance in which the odds are stacked against them. They are largely the beneficiaries or victims of luck and in the long run are going to lose money because they can't control the cards they're dealt or the dice they roll.
People investing some of their Social Security taxes in stocks, bonds and mutual funds would be able to control their risk to a great extent and determine with some degree of certainty their rates of return over extended periods. Inexperienced investors could put their money in U.S. Treasury bonds, which pay guaranteed rates double or triple those offered by Social Security. People seeking better returns can put their money in mutual funds that invest in blue-chip companies. But highly speculative investments that might wipe out retirement savings would be prohibited.
The process is expected to be similar to the employee-directed 401(k) plans that are allowing tens of millions of Americans to build secure retirements independently of Social Security. And under the Bush reforms, should people under Social Security die prematurely, the money in their personal accounts would go to their heirs instead of the government.
Investing is not a sure thing, but it must be pretty darn close because in Sen. Reid's most recent financial-disclosure form, it took him 13 pages to account for all the securities and real-estate interests he held or traded in 2003. As a senator, he also is saving for his retirement through the Thrift Savings Plan, which offers only six options, including three mutual funds that invest in U.S. companies and a fourth that gambles on highly speculative foreign stocks.
Sen. Reid has become wealthy and is building a secure retirement through stocks, bonds and mutual funds, but he wants to saddle most Americans with the risky Ponzi scheme that is Social Security.
The real Social Security gamble is to do nothing, let the system go bankrupt and leave current and future retirees with nothing.
Just out of curiosity, do members of Congress pay the Social Security tax?
the walking cadaver....
Oh, gee, THANK YOU, Sen. Reid for ALLOWING us to have "more" of a say in OUR retirement decisions! My, how BIG of you!
What a clueless old tool!
No. They don't. They have some other Savings plan. I forget the name of it, but (as you may expect) it's a sweet deal.
Every congress-critter and sinator should remove themselves from the Thrift Savings Plan and be forced to rely on social security like the rest of us.
You've seen hm walk?I've only seen him sit or stand, but no walking.
I was in Reno, Nevada over the weekend at a gun show. Since the elections are only recently past, there were still a number of billboards around town. Every one that I saw for Reid had the word "independent" on it. No mention of his DemocRATic party affiliation - much less that he was in line to be minority leader in the Senate if Daschle lost. The man is a snake, and not to be trusted.
Reid is Daschle -Lite.
I enjoyed what Fox News reported. See below and note last paragraph on Sen. Reid:
Dems Invoke FDR
Friday, February 04, 2005
By Brit Hume
Now somefresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Dems Invoke FDR
Senate Democrats gathered at the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial (search) today to invoke the image of FDR in calling on President Bush to remove private accounts from his Social Security (search) proposal. But it turns out that FDR himself planned to include private investment accounts in the Social Security program when he proposed it.
In a written statement to Congress in 1935, Roosevelt said that any Social Security plans should include, "Voluntary contributory annuities, by which individual initiative can increase the annual amounts received in old age," adding that government funding, "ought to ultimately be supplanted by self-supporting annuity plans."
Last night, Senate minority leader Harry Reid (search) likened the presidents proposal to allow Americans to divert a portion of payroll taxes into personal security investment accounts to "gambling." But in 1999, the Nevada Democrat proposed something very similar on our own "FOX News Sunday" saying, "Most of us have no problem with taking a small amount of the Social Security proceeds and putting it into the private sector."
NO!
Nevadans also know he was heavily backed by the casino owners. One wonders how much of his money is "dirty" money?
Demoncrats. Stupid is thy name.
Einstein understood the fix that the RATS are in:
The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
Critical thought is required. I've seen no sign yet from the lefties that they have any intent to think their way out of the fix that they are in.
I would love to see Reid's face when confronted with that part of the Roosevelt Social security plans...
On Fox now with John Gibson
Dumb Robert Reich - sec of labor under Clinton says there is no crisis with social security. Well why did he not correct Clinton when Bubba said there was.
Jeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzz
Lol, Reid sure has charisma, eh?
He makes actor John Carradine seem jolly.
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