I was listening to Fox News Channel on XM at work today and probably heard one of the strangest things in my life. Neil Cavuto was interviewing President Bush and asked the President if he thought that Michael Jackson was distracting America's attention away from the Social Security debate. Now I am usually a fan of Cavuto but this was a stretch at best.
The reason why the President has been unsuccessful with his agenda on Social Security is complex but the one gloved wonder has nothing to do with it. The reason is the special interest groups such as the AARP, the President not being effective communicating his exact plan, and Democrats in denial that the New Deal was a bandaid and not a cure.
Social Security needs to be fixed, but we need to decide what Social Security is: a retirement program or a social welfare system. If it is a retirement program then we should move to 100% personal savings accounts much like a 401k. In a diversified program almost every working class person would be able to retire early and wealthy compared with the promise of the current social security system.
If it is a social welfare program where its sharing the wealth then we need to change the way social security taxes are taken. Employers should not have to match the employees tax but there should be no cap on income that is taxable. Also the percentage should be lowered from approx 13% to 3-5%, lowering the burden on business that should create jobs if demand is there, and lessening the burden on the middle class, though would increase taxes on the rich.
I favor 100% personal accounts into a mutual fund account, possibly managed by the government to gain Democrat votes, and scrapping the current system. At 29 years old, my copy of Thriller is more likely to be working for me than Social Security when I reach retirement.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
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