Comptroller Says Personal Accounts Not Panacea (Social Security)

[Robbien]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The creation of personal investment accounts advocated by President Bush would not be a cure-all for the problems facing Social Security, which needs other reforms as well, the U.S. comptroller general said on Monday.

Fixing Social Security "should have happened already" since it was a relatively small part of the country's long-term fiscal problem, David Walker told a meeting of accountants.

The real threat to the country's solvency is health care, particularly soaring costs under the Medicare health care program for the elderly, he warned.

While personal investment accounts may make sense under some circumstances, comprehensive reform of the federal Social Security retirement program would mean changes, such as an increase in the retirement age or a shift in how cost-of-living adjustments are made, Walker said.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=7077491

How's this for an answer: No reform needed. Social Security is not broken.

[Inland]

1. Frankly, fixing social security one of the easiest tasks around

The shortfall is thiry years away at least, is only about 20-25% then. But Bush isn't interested in solving a small problem, it is in elminating SS.

SS is better funded the rest of the government, which is running huge deficits despite counting the SS taxes as revenue--thanks to the same asshole who is telling us that he is going to "fix" social security. Bush just burnt his own house down: you going to hire him to fix yours?

Like all republicans, Bush runs on the platform that government is evil and irrational and worthless, and when elected, makes it the truth.

Bush is ignoring the log in his own eye to concentrate on the mote in SS. What a dick.

[Pirate Smile]

2. But ... a lot of Bush's campaign contributers in the financial community

could make a lot of money off of it. So it must be done or the country is DOOMED.