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February 04, 2005

At The Ballot Box

An important thing to remember about the social security debate, especially in the context of why many Republican congressman aren't exactly going along, is that Bush is basically proposing the following: The current promised benefit level I receive from social security is going to be cut by between 30-50%. I can choose to stick with social security as is (under Bush's plan), but I get a lot less. I can choose a private account, and probably do better than the 30% reduction, and maybe get close to what I currently get.

One problem with this is that all I have to do to keep getting 100% of what I'm currently promised is vote for enough Congressman who promise to eliminate the payroll tax cap. In other words, being middle income, I can be sure my social security promised benefits stay exactly like they have been since the program started by simply voting for someone that makes $200K a year wage earners pay the same flat percentage in payroll taxes that I pay.

If I was a Democrat that wanted to run for President, I'd think about how to turn what I just spent 2 paragraphs laying out into an elevator pitch.

Posted by Chris at February 4, 2005 02:42 PM

Comments

I agree with you on this one. Finding the right way to frame it is the hard part.

Posted by: Joseph G [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 4, 2005 03:27 PM

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