A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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May 15, 2005Wexler Bolts from the PackDemocrat to break ranks, unveil retirement bill Democratic Congressman Robert Wexler of Florida has brought out his own Social Security proposal. Wexler has proposed an income surtax of 6% on salaries over $90,000 split between the employer and the employee. Among other things, the plan has the same serious problem as most of the tax-increase pre-funding proposals. It depends on the myth of the "Trust Fund" to hold surplus taxation until it's needed. But.... I suspect that Wexler's proposal is a "Trojan Horse" bill meant to bring tax increases into the discussion along the lines of Republican Lindesy Graham's proposal of cap-raising--among other things (see below). That it's not really intended for substantive consideration is betrayed by the fact that it includes an even more ambitious proposal. "Wexler's bill would also put in place so-called "pay-go" rules requiring that all new tax cuts or spending increases be paid for in other areas of the budget." The bill is intended to put Republicans on record as opposing pay-go when they oppose the tax increases. The shame is that returning to pay-go is a good idea, even if Wexler's SS "reform" proposal isn't. Posted by Tully at May 15, 2005 12:38 AM Comments
This is great news. Congressional Representatives should be responsive to their constituents, not beholden to money from the national party, special interests and lobbyists. Maybe the system still works. Only irresponsible Bush-haters and the above-mentioned national party, special interests and some lobbyists will view this negatively. Posted by: notherbob2 at May 15, 2005 01:46 AMIf it opens some discussion, it's a good deal. Posted by: stephanie at May 16, 2005 09:39 AMWhy is the social security Trust fund a myth? Isn't it made up of Notes from the U.S.? Posted by: Bert at May 16, 2005 08:53 PMSS "trust funds" are myths in that they don't contain any money, just promises from the government to the government. The government spent the money and left IOU's to itself. Legal IOU's that will still have to be paid, but IOU's none the less. You write me an IOU, I have an asset. You are the payor, I am the payee. I write me an IoweME promising to pay the money due to someone else, I've got nothing but an obligation. I am both payor and payee, but I've added the external obligation to my balance sheet. That I might be legally obligated to write a check to myself to pay the IOU to myself and then immediately pay out that money to someone else does not make the money to pay the check magically appear in my checking account. If you don't believe this, try it sometime. "Borrow" money from a client trust account. And have fun with the boys in cell block B. The difference between you or I doing this and the government doing it is that the government has the power (and the obligation) to tax us to pay its debts. Taxing extra to build up a "surplus" in the "trust fund" is actually an authorization to Congress to SPEND the surplus taxation, and then in the future tax the money required to pay it back all over again. For having paid too much in the first place, we get the privilege of paying the too much once more. With interest. Simple accounting. Tough for some folks to understand. Posted by: Tully at May 16, 2005 10:20 PMAre they held in a vault in West Virginia by the King of Pork? Posted by: AH at May 17, 2005 04:05 PMWell, at least they don't leave those notebook binders just lying around or anything where the King of Pork could grab 'em. They've safe in that filing cabinet with that combination lock.... Posted by: Tully at May 17, 2005 06:08 PMMaybe they should mark it with a sign that says "Beware Of The Leopard".... Posted by: Blue Jean at May 18, 2005 12:31 AMI was just thinking how appropriate that the U.S. Bureau of Public Debt should be located where it is. I can take a guess as to how it got there. A little Byrdie told me. Here is that filing cabinet. Note that they keep the binders in the second drawer down...wonder what's in the top drawer? :-) Posted by: Tully at May 19, 2005 10:20 AM |
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