Smafty Mac: Fighting the kakistocracy!!!

Bush's plan to privatize Social Security

So we're already in debt and what's this administration's plan?

More Debt!

Facing record budget deficits, the Bush administration likely will turn to short-term government borrowing to help finance its plan to add personal retirement accounts to Social Security (news - web sites), officials said on Saturday.


President Bush (news - web sites)'s economic advisers have been analyzing financing options for more than a year in preparation for Bush's second-term push to overhaul the Social Security system. Officials say no final decisions have been made.



Bush's advisers believe a short-term increase in borrowing is likely necessary to finance the transition to private accounts. They say this increase is economically feasible, and that the cost of doing nothing would be far greater long-term.



While the nation's debt load would increase initially, it would fall as the reforms are phased in, advocates say.



"In talking about moving some of those costs forward to make some reform to the system, it may ultimately involve some borrowing in the short-term," said Chad Kolton, spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget.



One analysis this year by the White House Council of Economic Advisers found that tapping the bond markets to pay for private accounts would increase the nation's debt-to-GDP (news - web sites) ratio by 23.6 percentage points by 2036.



Under this scenario, the debt held by the public would increase by as much as $4.7 trillion. But the new government bonds would be repaid 20 years later, eliminating Social Security's unfunded liability while reducing the tax burden in the long term, advocates said

A quick Economics lesson, subject Argentina
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