Bush's prescription drug benefit is Social Security's real problem

I didn't vote for President Bush but I keep trying to give him the benefit of the doubt because he is my President. But ever since reading Molly Ivins book, "Shurb" I have known that the guy is a bungler. Even with his MBA from Harvard, and my respect for Harvard has gone way down knowing that they granted this guy an MBA, he seems to bungle and bankrupt every thing he manages.

In this post, I will pass over the fiasco known as the Iraqi war which is bankrupting the U.S. and forcing our children and grandchildren into the greatest debt ever known in the history of the country. In this post, I want to point out what Alan Sloan says in the current issue of Newsweek (12/27 &01/03/05) about Bush's handling of Social Security.

"Bush talked about Social Security's being a $10.4 trillion problem. That's how much you'd have to give Social Security today for it to continue paying benefits indefinitely under its current formula. But the shortfall in Bush's Medicare drug program is $17 trillion. In other words, the problem that Bush himself created a year ago is two thirds again as large as Social Security's problem. What's more, the drug plan starts costing taxpayers big bucks just a year from now, in 2006. We'll borrow it, of course. Social Security, for all its flaws, will take in more than enough cash to pay for itself for a dozen years even if nothing changes. So which is a "crisis"? A $17 trillion problem that starts next year, or a $10.4 trillion problem that starts in 2018? You don't need a math genius to answer that question."

I will be eligible for Social Security in three years when I turn 62 or I could wait seven years until I turn 66. I am not that worried. I am guessing that my drugs and my pension check will be there for me. But when my oldest child, my daughter, Kate, reaches 62, 24 years from now in 2029, I'll probably be dead and gone, but maybe not, and what will there be for her? Probably a lot of laughs when we reminisce, if I am an 83 year old wise man, about the Presidency of one George Walker Bush back in 2005 and something.

We're going to have watch this guy and his administration like a hawk and let our congresspeople know what we think about his cockamamie policies. Talk to your friends too because there is strength in numbers. Remember, the U.S. is suppose to be a democracy for the people and by the people not a corporation run by the wealthy elite for the stockbrokers on Wall Street.

Link: MSNBC - Peddling a Crisis (The Wrong One).

Comments

[Ittai Eres]

As usual, people are being critical of Bush. Look, he's not that smart, but there's no need to constantly bash the guy. What would anyone else have done with 9/11 hanging over their head like that? For all we know, Gore would have been even worse. I'm not saying I like the president, no, I think he's an idiot too, but there's no need to be so critical...after all, presidency isn't a walk in the park.