One wants to believe that Bush, after talking about Social Security privatization since his first congressional campaign in 1978, would understand the policy pretty well. But the more the president makes his pitch, the more it raises questions about whether he’s intentionally trying to deceive or just confused about major details.
Out on the hustings, President Bush likes to make a case for allowing younger workers to invest some of their Social Security taxes by citing the example of the Thrift Savings Plan, private investment accounts available to members of Congress and other federal employees.
“Doesn’t it make sense for members of Congress to give younger workers the opportunity to do the same thing with their money that they get to do in their retirement system?” the president asked this week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, baiting his congressional opponents. “Frankly, if it’s good enough for federal workers and elected officials putting aside some of your own money in a personal savings account it ought to be good enough for all workers in America.”
Bush almost certainly has to know better. The Thrift Savings Plan isn’t like Bush’s approach at all — it’s an add-on that supplements Social Security and doesn’t take money from the Social Security trust fund. Even the SSA describes the Thrift Savings Plan as a 401k for government employees. It bears almost no resemblance to the White House “plan,” which makes Bush’s remarks all the more bizarre.
And while this is slightly off-topic, as long as Bush made the analogy, wouldn’t it be great if we took his point and replaced talk of retirement money with health care? It’d look a little something like this:
“Doesn’t it make sense for members of Congress to give workers the opportunity to do the same thing with their health insurance that they get to do in their insurance system? Frankly, if it’s good enough for federal workers and elected officials to get publicly-financed health care it ought to be good enough for all workers in America.”
Hmm.