The Washington Times ran an article which contained phrases I found intriguing:
The president also praised one of Mr. Clinton's domestic policies --
trying to reform Social Security. Both men have proposed personal
savings accounts as part of the solution, an idea that is vociferously
opposed by congressional Democrats.
'I was telling President Clinton I remember watching one of
his town hall meetings in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on this very
subject,' Mr. Bush said just hours after bidding farewell to his
predecessor at the Rome airport.
'And I thought it was a very impressive presentation,' he
added. 'By the way, a lot of the language happens to be pretty close to
some of the town hall meetings we've had.'
Here are some comments made by former president Clinton condoning personal accounts to replace social security:
“[Investing] will earn a higher return and keep social security sound for 55 years.” (State Of The Union, 1/19/99)
“[W]hat I believe we should do is to invest a modest amount of this in the private sector, the way every other retirement plan does. The Arizona state retirement plan does; every municipal retirement plan does; every private plan does.” (Remarks to the citizens of Tucson on Medicare and Social
Security, Tucson, AZ, 2/25/99)
“[E]ven after you take account of the stock market going down and maybe staying down for a few years shouldn’t we consider investing some of this money, because, otherwise, we’ll have to either cut benefits or raise taxes to cover them, if we can’t raise the rate of return.” (Remarks Via Satellite To The Regional Congressional Social Security
Forums, Albuquerque, NM, 7/27/98)
After digging deeper, I found these remarks by other prominent Democrats from Social Security Choice:
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV): “Most of us
have no problem with taking a small amount of Social Security proceeds and
putting it into the private sector.” (Fox
News Sunday, 2/14/99)
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL): Press
Release: “Durbin said due to the
increasing number of ‘baby boomers’ reaching retirement age, social security
will be unable to pay our full benefits...but the sooner Congress acts to avert
this crisis the easier and less painful it will be.” (“Reforming Social
Security,” Press Release, 9/15/98)
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND): “Fixing
Social Security is an urgent priority. It ought to be at the top of both parties’ agendas.” (“Fixing Social Security must top both
parties’ agendas,” Roll Call, 12/6/99)
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND): “I was at
the Social Security summit at the White House, along with 40 of my colleagues,
Republicans and Democrats. And there was
virtual unanimity of opinion that we simply have to get a higher return from
the social security investments.” (Fox News’ Special Report, 1/20/99)
Rep. Sander Levin (D-IL): “People can
see, I think, a [Social Security] crisis where there immediate family is
affected even if not immediately...this is something that affects almost
everybody’s immediate family.” (“Social
Security Reform Stalls,” The Detroit News, 2/2/02)
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY): “I am one
Democrat that truly believes that Democrats will not benefit by doing nothing
on Social Security.” (Press Conference, 1/21/99)
Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA): “I am
an advocate for investing a portion of the surplus in the private sector.” (Committee On Commerce, U.S.
House Of Representatives, Testimony, 2/25/99)
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY): “It’s a
way of getting more money—a higher return on the trust fund, and is a prudent
and good thing to do.” (Press
Conference, 1/21/99)
Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-MO): “Why
should Social Security recipients be disadvantaged by not getting to be able to
have higher returns out of the stock market?” (Press Conference, 1/21/99)
I find this hypocrisy inexcusable. All of these quotes, save one, come from under the Clinton
administration, yet the same ideas presented by Bush results in ridicule by the Democrats (including our very own Harry Reid as, you all know, is leading the judicial filibuster...okay, so I'm a little indignant). I just don't understand this constant flip-flopping by the Dems; again, they give up their principles to attack a political opponent. I give up trying to understand modern liberalism...I'm going to bed.
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