Thursday, March 22, 2007

While You Weren't Watching...

At the risk of saying..."we told you so"...here's yet another example of why it's clear that Social Security privatizers are still hard at work on Capitol Hill.

The Senate this afternoon considered an amendment offered by Senator Jim Demint (R-SC) to privatize Social Security. Sen. DeMint described his amendment as saving the SS surpluses while finding a way to pre-fund the system. Majority Leader Harry Reid sees it quite differently:

"This amendment creates a reserve fund for 'Social Security reform' that among other things would [provide] participants with the benefits of savings and investment while permitting the pre-funding of at least some portion of future benefits. This carefully crafted amendment opens the door to privatizing Social Security."

And we agree. The amendment failed 45-52 on the Senate floor. You can read the full text of the amendment and see a vote breakdown here.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

We should mark our calendars to expect a DeMint amendment every March during budget season. This year's amendment is virtually identical to the one DeMint and Crapo introduced in March of 2006. Thank you for reminding us to remain vigilant of the threat privatizers pose to Social Security.