19-02-2005 03:32									#1
	American Social Security Reform, Questions Welcomed Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Okay guys, my non-fiction writing has paid off again... (In contrast to my fiction, which has long languished)...

AND- as part of my work I have been selected to interview the United States Senator from Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum, in a few days.

I am supposed to ask him questions about Bush's new Social Security Reform program, and am opening this question up to you guys since some of you might have some good questions that I might not otherwise think about.

So, please, fire away with questions about American President George W. Bush's new Social Security plan. (And specifically those that might deal with Mr. Santorum's personal complicity in the matter).

Thanks again,

-DC.

	19-02-2005 03:35									#2
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

Q: do you want to reform social security because it has the word "social" in it and that kind hints at "socialism" which you, as a republican, are completely against? If so, what if we end up calling the reformed social security Liberal Security, would then be against that?

	19-02-2005 03:36									#3
	Remove this text

Ask him how much the CBO says doing nothing to social security would cost out of the general fund (A: $1 trillion). Then ask him how much the CBO says Bush's plan would cost(A: $2 trillion).

Then ask him why Bush's cure costs $1 tillion more then the disease.

	19-02-2005 03:36									#4
	Tired of ads?

Give him this link and both of you try it out during the interview so you can discuss the results:
Social (In)Security Calculator, set up by Senate Democrats (democrats.senate.gov link)

Last edited by DRoseDARs on 19-02-2005 at 03:46

	19-02-2005 03:37									#5
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

I'm sensing some animosity here...

	19-02-2005 03:39									#6
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

Santorum is a bigoted piece of filth.

	19-02-2005 03:42									#7
	Suffering from ads?

Where are the promised Weapons of Mass Destruction

	19-02-2005 03:43									#8
	Increase the size of your Attachments

Point out that currently no banks or money managers charge anyone fees for social security. Ask him what he thinks the yearly management costs will be on private accounts. Gee, with 300 million people all opening new accounts worth trillions of dollars don't the banks, mutal funds, and money managers stand to make a killing?

Point out that the financial industry is one of the largest contributors to Republican campaigns. Ask him if the millions of dollars the financial industry is giving Republicans has anything to do with his support of privatization.

	19-02-2005 03:43									#9
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

quote: Originally posted by Japher If so, what if we end up calling the reformed social security Liberal Security, would then be against that?

It'll be called 'Patriots Security' so noone dare oppose it for fear of being unpatriotic.

	19-02-2005 03:44									#10
	Inflate your Upload Space

Q: How will this let the queers get married?

Q: Do you have a hot daughter about my age?

	19-02-2005 04:01									#11
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

Qs from Andy in Arkansas:

Social Security has provided benefits for coming on seventy years now, and one of the charts on their website says about 5% of the GDP is made up of social security checks. Obviously as a government program it has been a star overachiever, why fix what ain't broken?

If privatization wasn't an option, what would you recommend to improve Social Security's long-term viability?

If Social Security effectively becomes a required private investment account, won't the argument be made then that the government should not interfere in private investment and the system should be eliminated altogether?

Will you personally draw money from the system? In its current form or when (if) it's privatized?

How much will it cost to change the system? How will the government absorb these costs?

And be sure and say thank you at the end of the interview. Regardless of everyone's personal opinion he is, after all, a Senator.

	19-02-2005 04:04									#12
	Got spare money?

Ask him what he thanks fo Dan Savage.

	19-02-2005 04:05									#13
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

In reality, isn't there no such thing as the Social Security Trust Fund? Isn't the money already spent in our budget's general fund? Isn't the real urgency behind Social Security reform the fact that in 2012, when the fund begins payout out more than it takes in, this Social Scurity Trust Fund fallacy will be exposed?

	19-02-2005 06:18									#14
	Browse Apolyton AD-FREE

Oerdin

quote: Ask him what he thinks the yearly management costs will be on private accounts.

Good Question. I'll look this up and refine it, but I'll get it in.

Japher

quote: Q: How will this let the queers get married?

If time allows, I'll try to throw in a Gay Marriage Question.

pchang
Could you perhaps elaborate, I don't really understand that.

MrMitchell
Very good. I'll be incorporating some form of most of your questions.


-Thanks again to all!

	19-02-2005 06:32									#15
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

We are led to believe that Social Security has a trust fund where all the extra money is going and that will be used to pay out benefits.

The Trust Fund exists in name only. The money is spent on General Budget items and is recorded as revenue that reduces our current budget deficit.

The analysts say that Social Security will be bankrupt when the Trust Fund runs out (2040s to 2060s depending upon the analyst). However, the Trust Fund is already empty. Social Security will essentially be bankrupt as soon as outflows exceed inflows. The government will have to borrow money (i.e issue debt) against the General Budget to make up the difference. This will either cause the debt to balloon or will cause us to drastically cut other programs.

Thus, the urgent need to reform Social Security comes from the date when Social Security will pay out more than it collects and this date is estimated to be 2012.

	19-02-2005 06:35									#16
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Chang, yolu are not entirely correct. The trust fund has T-Bills in it so as long as the US government keeps paying off its T-bills then the Trust fund will be just fine until 2052.

	19-02-2005 06:37									#17
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

No. The Trust Fund has IOUs in it. We will have to start issuing T Bills to it in 2012. Lots and Lots of them.

	19-02-2005 06:45									#18
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

[qupte]If time allows, I'll try to throw in a Gay Marriage Question.[/quote]


Really? I was just kidding! Instead of a gay marriage question ask him either a) who he'd vote for The Poly Hall of Fame, or b) What he wants to add to the CIV4 list

	19-02-2005 07:58									#19
	Inflate your Upload Space

the chart I was referring to earlier, in case I read it wrong or he gets antsy

quote: Social Security outgo amounted to 4.3 percent of GDP in 2003 and is projected to increase by just over one-half to 6.6 percent of GDP in 2078. Medicare's cost was smaller in 2003, 2.6 percent of GDP, but is projected to grow more than fivefold to 13.8 percent of GDP in 2078, when it will be more than twice Social Security's.

(from the Trustees Report summary)

	19-02-2005 08:08									#20
	Browse Apolyton AD-FREE

quote: Originally posted by pchang No. The Trust Fund has IOUs in it. We will have to start issuing T Bills to it in 2012. Lots and Lots of them.

A T-Bill is an IOU.

	20-02-2005 23:21									#21
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

pchang- I haven't heard any economists who have supported your assertion there... so sorry, I don't think I can ask that question because it seems questionable.

I understand what you mean about periodic social security fund raids- but they do have money set aside (not as much as they should, but they do have some).

	20-02-2005 23:50									#22
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

Social security invests its money int Treasuries- as far as all treasuries are "IOUS"", then pchang is correct, but unless the US plans to default on its debt obligations, the "trust fund" is there. Its the admin.s fault that it has decided not to save for the time it has to honor its debt, as opposed to rsiking bancruptcy (I can;t see how the government can reneg on the Treasuries it holds without leading to a complete collapse of the treasuries market).

We can blame the current execs for raiding tyhe pension fund to finance their pet projects.

Of course, the Bush plans does absoilutely zero to negate this problem, only adds 2 Trillion in extra borrowing, since benefits already promised, according to the admin. will not be cut.

	21-02-2005 00:05									#23
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Q for Rick Santorum: Are you as big an ******* in real life as you appear to be on TV?

	21-02-2005 00:31									#24
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

Q: Why do you hate America so much?

	21-02-2005 02:36									#25
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

OMG. The Trust Fund is not an asset account. It's a liability account. It should have never been called an trust fund. It's purpose is to keep track of what is owed to future beneficiaries. What is so freaking hard to understand about that?

	21-02-2005 03:19									#26
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

quote: Originally posted by chegitz guevara Ask him what he thanks fo Dan Savage.

*2

	21-02-2005 03:28									#27
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

BTW, the SS "trust funds" contain virtually no T-bills (as GePap claims).

The SS trust funds actually contain special issue securities which are supposed to be redeemable at face value at any time. The US government might be able to default on them without defaulting on all T-bills. Given such a drastic step, however, the loss of confidence in the ability of the US government to repay its outstanding debts would likely lead to a collapse of the T-bill market anyway.

	21-02-2005 03:33									#28
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

The word redeem means to recover ownership of. Who is the US going to recover ownership from whether they are T-Bills or special issue securities?

	21-02-2005 03:34									#29
	Tired of ads?

I've never understood why Social Security is forced to invest its money solely in the federal government.

In Canada the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and various provincial plans which perform the same functions that SS does wrt retirement benefits etc. all invest in a combination of private financial markets as well as buying government debt.

SS in the US has been used as an end-run mechanism to allow the federal government to borrow much more at lower interest rates than it would otherwise have been able to.

	21-02-2005 03:37									#30
	Support Apolyton

quote: Originally posted by KrazyHorse SS in the US has been used as an end-run mechanism to allow the federal government to borrow much more at lower interest rates than it would otherwise have been able to.

That's right. It's not an investment. It's a way to use assets to cover expenses to lower your borrowing costs.