Please comment on this LTTE draft

[T Roosevelt]

Trying to put together something on Greenspan stealing from the poor to give to the wealthy (again). Limit is 250 words (the draft is 248).


Middle Class Sacrifice (looking for a good title)
Alan Greenspan is calling once again for the lower and middle classes to sacrifice so that the wealthy in this country will not have to. Recently, Alan Greenspan warned that the country will face ``abrupt and painful'' choices if Congress does not move quickly to trim the Social Security and Medicare benefits that have been promised to the baby boom generation. Mr Greenspan, however, has a sordid history when it comes to Social Security as a middle class program.

Almost exactly twenty years ago, a National Commission on Social Security Reform headed by Greenspan proposed a package of benefit cuts and tax increases, which Congress enacted with little change. In December 1981, Ronald Reagan recommended creation of a bipartisan commission to study Social Security and recommend reforms, selecting Alan Greenspan as chairman. Enacted in 1983 as a result of this commission, payroll tax increases were accelerated, as were cuts in benefits. This extended the solubility of the program by placing a heavier burden on future taxpayers and future beneficiaries.

Two very important points to remember about Social Security is that 1) it is a "pay as you go" program; in other words, money coming in through payroll taxes pays for current benefits; and 2) the program is currently in surplus. It is this surplus that Mr Bush has used to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. And now Mr Greenspan, rather than calling for the wealthy to give up those cuts, wants everybody else to sacrifice again.

[AP]

1. Middle Class Squeezed so that Wealth at Top Can Expand

Alan Greenspan is calling for the middle class to sacrifice so that the wealthy will not have to. This week, Greenspan warned the country will face "abrupt and painful'' choices if Congress does not move quickly to trim the Social Security and Medicare benefits for baby boomers.

Sound familiar? Greenspan said the same thing twenty years ago when Ronald Reagan appointed him to head a Social Security reform commission. The consequences then -- an increase in payroll tax and benefits cuts -- were a squeeze that he wants to see tightened even more.

Payroll tax is a regressive tax that doesn't increase once you reach $80,0000. If you make just under that threshold, it burdens you the most. If you make much more, you barely notice it.

Social Security is a "pay as you go" program -- the money coming in through payroll taxes pays for current benefits. Today, the program is in surplus and Bush is using that surplus to pay for his tax cuts for the wealthy.

Social Security is supposed to be a safety net so that people can take bigger risks for greater rewards, knowing they won't starve if they fail to hit the target. Society realizes its greatest potential when its citizens don't have to play it safe.

Once again, Alan Greenspan wants to take that safety net away from the middle class and use it to guarantee the wealth of the wealthy.

[T Roosevelt]

3. Mind if I steal some of this?

[AP]

4. You can take ALL of it.

[FreakinDJ]

2. How about this for a Title

.......I WANT MY MONEY BACK....

I would like to see JK make this a campaign issue as I think it is some thing we can prove Bush lied in his campaign promises about. Actually he stole 40 billion after he promised to make SSI more secure for future generations

His administration has led the way for Corps. to reduce and deny pension benefits promised to 10,000s of it workers with 20 plus years of service

This is an issue that can win over a very high percentage of the swing voters