Battle Ahead Over Social Security Report

[G_j]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4886293,00.html

Battle Ahead Over Social Security Report

Wednesday March 23, 2005 1:01 PM

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER

AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Both sides in the pitched battle over Social Security are getting ready to argue over a whole new set of numbers - the annual assessment of when Social Security and Medicare will go broke.

Even before the report was released Wednesday, critics complained that the administration might try to fudge the numbers.

The report by the trustees of Social Security and Medicare will be in the spotlight this year more than ever because President Bush has made overhauling Social Security the top domestic priority of his second term.

Both Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were on the road this week, seeking to build support for the overhaul drive, which has run into major opposition from Democrats in Congress who oppose the president's plan to divert a portion of Social Security taxes to create private accounts for younger workers
..more..

[leftchick]

1. is this to trump the GAO report?:GAO Official: No Crisis in Social Securit

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/03/09/national/w093021S67.DTL

Social Security "does not face an immediate crisis," the head of the Government Accountability Office said Wednesday, but it does face a long-term financing problem "and it would be prudent to address it sooner rather than later."


David M. Walker, who heads the nonpartisan Office of Comptroller General, also criticized President Bush for undertaking an aggressive two-month tour to try to sell his plan for allowing younger workers to divert a portion of their Social Security payroll taxes into private investment accounts. Walker suggested that Bush and members of Congress focus on improving financing for the program, which would not be significantly affected by establishment of personal accounts.


The testimony launched formal debate, before the House Ways and Means Committee, on Capitol Hill over Bush's plan to overhaul the federal retirement plan that began as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's post-Depression era "New Deal."


"I would have done it differently, I would have done it differently," Walker said, under aggressive questioning by Rep. Charles B. Rangel of New York, the top Democrat on the panel. In his opening statement, Rangel declared, "Private accounts will not be on the table if you are looking for bipartisanship."

[TahitiNut]

4. No. It's the annual Trustee's Report - required by law.

It's not in response to anything ... even though the trained lap dogs who've been placed by Chimperor Codpiece as Trustees of the Social Security Trust Fund are absolutely certain to again fudge the economic assumptions in a manner to amplify the doom and gloom.

What's most important about the projected shortfalls of the Trust Fund is that it's based on economic assumptions that reflect the war against the working class: consistently lower compensation, consistently higher unemployment, and costs driven by the wealthiest 1%.

[snippy]

2. Bush will order the trustees to lie.

It is his standard operating procedure with every federal department and agency.

[cthrumatrix]

3. LOL....everyone KNOWS bushco lies like a "rug"....this is no different