Libarchy

2005-07-15T16:47:00.000-04:00

Dumb And Dumber
LINK "Biden Wants Court Selection to Be 'Unanimous' Choice -- 07/14/2005" What has this guy been smoking? With the unpleasant state of today's American politics (created by the hard-Left Democrats) consensus is difficult enough. Unanimity? No chance!

2005-06-17T14:48:00.000-04:00

This Guy Is Such A Putz!
LINK "SJ-R.COM - Durbin speech riles GOP" The hate these people have for an America they don't control is not to be believed.

2005-06-15T14:25:00.000-04:00

More From The Nanny Government
LINK "WorldNetDaily: Click it or ticket" Walter Williams hits the mark again.

2005-06-08T18:26:00.000-04:00

My God! What A Shock!!!
LINK "Crime Drops, Despite Expiration of Gun Ban -- 06/08/2005" The gun-grabbers are full of crap again!

2005-06-08T17:30:00.000-04:00

Who Cares What He Says?
LINK "AP Wire | 06/07/2005 | Carter: Close down Guantanamo" Time to retire this old fud to a geezer home.

2005-06-01T16:28:00.000-04:00

Sending In The Clones

President Bush and his administration are making a terrible mistake by trying to outlaw U.S. experiments in cloning and stem-cell research. They make a specious moral argument against the science but as we can see from Korea and other countries, there is no way to stop it. There are nations out there that see genetic research as a way to make a lot of money and increase their political clout and no one, not even the toothless UN will deter them.
If GW and company were really looking at the morality of the case they would see that only by encouraging unfettered cloning and stem-cell research in the U.S., so that we get it done first, is there ANY chance of keeping some sort of ethical or moral control. By abdicating that role through some misguided religious morality, the U.S. is courting genetic disaster while the rest of the world goes on its merry way into the future..

2005-06-01T15:02:00.000-04:00

Living In A Fantasy World!
LINK "Acad?mie Solemnly Mans the Barricades Against Impure French - New York Times"
"Baisez-vous, vous les bâtards arrogants de grenouille!" Des "Poissons De Babel."

2005-06-01T14:31:00.000-04:00

Here We Go!
LINK "FEC treads into sticky web of political blogs - Yahoo! News" This could be what I've been waiting for. A bunch of government bureaucrats trying to regulate something of which they are totally
ignorant. Bet the hackers and geeks are just rubbing their hands with glee.

2005-05-31T18:07:00.000-04:00

OOPS!
LINK "French Gov't in Crisis After Voters Reject EU Constitution -- 05/31/2005" The French government is in crisis 24-7. This just adds to the fun. Ribbit!

2005-05-31T17:04:00.000-04:00

Golly, Gee!
LINK "Newsday.com: AP Enterprise: Lawmakers, aides belatedly disclose trips" Crooked politicians, who'da thunk?

2005-05-31T16:48:00.000-04:00

Galveston, Oy Galveston

By: Charles Stone, Jr.

Such kvetching and wailing about the Social Security System. The Democrats are insisting that the Bush plan is racist, sexist, ageist, fiscally irresponsible, and a repudiation of the great Leftist icon, Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Republicans are sure they're not any of those things but they are so cowardly that they will not fight to make the changes.

There are all sorts of ephemeral reasons cited by the GOPers in defense of such things as partial privatization but there are few actual facts that seem to make the argument.
One of the greatest examples of how well a privatized system would work exists and would make powerful rhetoric in the argument but for some reason, nobody wants to talk about it.

Galveston County, Texas.

What I can't figure out is why the Republicans haven't been citing the Galveston experiment all along as a reason why privatization of Social Security could work. Even President Bush seemed to ignore Galveston until his sixty day S/S reform blitz in March and April of 2005. The opposition was allowed to make ridiculous charges about the evils of ANY private accounts and the GOP refused to use the powerful weapon of precedent in rebuttal..

In 1996, the National Center for Policy Analysis did a study of the retirement systems adopted by Galveston and a few other Texas counties (BA #215) to see what the results of privatization would be. The results are astounding.

An employee of 40 years, making $20,000 per year, would have a lump sum of over $380,000 in his retirement account. He might choose to take monthly payments of $2740 per month for life as opposed to $775 per month from Social Security.

An employee of 40 years, making $50,000 per year would have some $950,000 in his account or he could take monthly payments of $6843 per month compared to $1392 per month from Social Security.

The disability part of the plan would provide the injured worker 60 percent of his salary up to age 65, at which time he would switch to the retirement plan. Social Security provides a sum determined by the workers S/S earnings. Even at the $20,000 salary level, the amount would be about equal to the Social Security Disability stipend.

There is also a life insurance component to the Galveston plan which would provide from $50,000 to $150,000 compared to Social Security's $255 restricted death benefit.
If you would like to read about how the whole Galveston plan came to be, check out this article in "Liberty Haven" by: Ed Myers

A 1999 report by the General Accounting Office (a government agency under the Clinton Administration) said low paid employees would fare better under the current S/S system than they would under the Galveston county plan, while higher paid employees and employees without children would seem to do better with the alternate plans.

But Brazoria County Judge John Willy says, "That's just not true. In almost every case, county workers make double what they would make with Social Security."

In that study, he says, researchers used not the 6-1/2 percent average rate of return on investments that county workers have actually received since the programs began, but a 4-1/2 percent average rate of return. Further, says Judge Willy "A county judge or a county tax collector is going to make more because they are putting more in during their lifetime, but someone making a lower salary is getting the same high rate of return on their money,"

Makes sense to me..

Yet another judge, or rather a former judge, Ray Holbrook says:
"The Alternate Plan has been successful for the past 18 years with a return on retirement investments of about 6-1/2%. That is at least three times the return on a like investment in Social Security right now. Even though the return from a stock market investment would have significantly increased the actual return, there was much less risk potential in buying annuities with guaranteed returns."

And: "Alternative plans have worked. There are many happy employees and retirees from forward-thinking Texas counties that could attest to the benefits of embracing these alternatives.".

Of course, those opposed to the Galveston plan gleefully trumpet these flawed conclusions as reasons why the average American should fight against any change in the status quo. As in: Media Matters to America.

In may of 2000. Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson on the floor of the Senate said, in response to criticism of the Galveston plan by Sen. Barbara Boxer:
"In her discussion," said Sen. Hutchinson, " she (Sen. Boxer) took on the issue of some of the Texas municipalities that had chosen to opt out of Social Security and attempted to show they were doing less well than anyone in the Social Security system today. I want to refute some of those remarks, especially the ones that referred to these counties in Texas, and give the other side of the story"... And: "Just in the last few minutes, I talked to the county judge of Galveston County, Judge Yarborough, who is a very good Democrat, a very good person, and is doing a good job in Galveston County. He says in the 5 1/2 years he has been county judge, he has never had one complaint from an employee in Galveston County and, in fact, has had many retirees come up to him and say how glad they are that they have their own retirement system rather than having been forced into the Social Security system back in the eighties when they were allowed to opt out."

This speech was made five years ago, yet the Bush administration and their supporters in Congress haven't made the Galveston plan the centerpiece of their attempt to enhance S/S with some form of privatization. Makes you wonder.

I don't have any real hope that the Social Security system will be changed in any meaningful way. I only wish the Republicans and the Bush Administration would have used the Galveston alternative, over the last four years, to get the word out to those who seem so susceptible to the blandishments of the Democrats and their minions in the AARP.

© 2005 Charles Stone, Jr.

2005-05-31T16:35:00.000-04:00

"Canada Red Cross Guilty in Blood Scandal"
LINK "My Way News" Isn't this part of the same health care system so many Leftists think we should have in the US?

2005-05-27T18:27:00.000-04:00

Pathetic!!!
LINK "Weepy Voinovich Begs for 'No' Vote on Bolton -- 05/26/2005" This goof-ball is a disgrace to the Senate AND the people of Ohio.

2005-05-27T18:11:00.000-04:00

"Sugar Socialism"

"The American consumer takes his lumps--and pays too much for them."
LINK "OpinionJournal - Outside the Box" Supported by the "free-market" Republicans.

2005-05-27T16:46:00.000-04:00

A Surprise?
LINK "NBC clashes with Tom DeLay on Law & Order - Yahoo! News"
They have every right to say it but it IS further proof that the entertainment industry is biased hard Left.

2005-05-25T16:12:00.000-04:00

Don't Hold Your Breath
LINK "WorldNetDaily: Kerry signs release of Navy records" He's a politician, "dodges and digressions" are a way of life.

2005-05-24T15:10:00.000-04:00

A Taste Of Things To Come
LINK "Death by a Thousand Blogs - New York Times" If the Red Chinese government can't control the 'Net, do you think blowhard American pols have a chance?

2005-05-24T14:21:00.000-04:00

Here It Comes!
LINK "FBI asks US Congress for power to seize documents"This is going to turn into a dictatorship by security. Giving any agency this much power will likely destroy freedom in this country. Ben Franklin was right!

2005-05-23T18:06:00.000-04:00

"The Dhia Muhsin Example"
LINK
"OpinionJournal - Extra" It's a long read but so refreshing after the negativity of most of the major media outlets.

2005-05-23T17:52:00.000-04:00

Only Government Can Be This Stupid
LINK "CNN.com - Sex offenders get Viagra paid for by Medicaid - May 23, 2005"
These same people would go nuts if someone suggested that convicted murderers should be given knives or guns.

2005-05-23T17:32:00.000-04:00

More One-way Democrat Crap
LINK "Dean defends imitation of Rush - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - May 23, 2005" Howard The Loud-mouth can get away with this kind of stuff but woe betide any Republican who tried the same.

2005-05-20T17:22:00.000-04:00

Damn Global Warming!
LINK "news @ nature.com?-?East Antarctica puts on weight?-?Increased snowfall could slow sea-level rise." Another nail in the coffin of global warming, no matter what Slick Willy says.

2005-05-18T16:08:00.000-04:00

The Dense Leading The Dumb!
LINK "Welcome to AJC! | ajc.com" Guess it doesn't take much intellectual prowess to become a "student body president" in this day and age.

2005-05-17T16:33:00.000-04:00

Funny Stuff!
LINK "Anchors Comic And Serious Win Peabodys" One: How could they tell which was the "fake?" Two: This is how the Left handles disgraced Leftists.

2005-05-17T16:24:00.000-04:00

This Is A Surprise?
LINK "Kilpatrick's expenses exposed" This is just the mayor of Detroit. I'll bet most other big city mayors
are playing the same game.
It's the old "big frog in a small pond" syndrome. They just think they are so special.