Bill Sykes' Newsletter
from America.
(February 2005)
An ex-Brit gives his views - (without
fear or favor) - of the American Scene
The
Bush Plan for the next four years:
I can’t
give you full details of the Bush plan, as I don’t
think that even the President himself has any idea
of what the real plan is. However there are two important
issues that have surfaced and been bandied around the
political circles of power during recent weeks. 1)
A complete revision of the current Social Security
system, 2) The potential revamping of the controversial,
"Roe versus Wade" decision
made by the United States Supreme Court in 1973 to
legalise abortion.
 The President and his administration apparently have calculated that by the year
2012, Social Security, (the national pension system), will pay out more in benefits
than it receives in revenue, and in the President’s words the system will
go broke.
One of the President’s proposals is to initiate
an alternative parallel privatised Social Security system
for future generations in which individuals would be
allowed to opt out of the current Social Security system
and set aside a percentage of funds coming from their
salaries to invest in say the stock market. The general
idea being promoted is that dividends, profits, etc,
coming from investments in the private sector over the
individual’s working life will finance a self-generated
social security income at retirement, providing better
benefits than the current system. Investing in the stock
market in many ways is a very risky proposition and the
premise that the individual will be continuously employed
in today’s fluctuating job market makes it less
feasible. I would suggest that there will be times when
the individual, if they elect to go with a privatised
system, would be just as well advised to try their luck
by placing their money on the tables of the Las Vegas
gambling casinos. The odds of course being that a small
number of investors would make large sums of money, but
on the other hand a potentially larger number of investors
would obviously lose their shirt and finish up on welfare.
 I’m sure that there are many American people, who would not like me using
the word "privatisation", even if it is a so-say voluntary system,
for this is akin in their minds to suggesting that by setting up an alternative
private Social Security system to the one initiated by President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt under his "New Deal" in January of 1935, would create
a system for the rich and a system for the less fortunate, (so what else is
new), similar perhaps one could say to the current situation in the British
privatised health care system.
The second proposal, is a very controversial subject
as it deals with whether the President will make changes
in the membership of the Supreme Court, (if and when
vacancies occur), in order to install anti-abortion judges
with a view to overturning the January 1973, "Roe
versus Wade" decision made by the Supreme Court,
which legalised abortion. This may get the President
some support from the mid-west bible belt, but I would
predict that if he aligns himself in any way with the
anti-abortion establishment he will be in for a rough
passage from both sides of the Congressional aisle.
Comment:
 Mr. Robert Reich, a distinguished American professor and the 22nd Secretary of
Labour under President Clinton, said in a recent interview that the so-called
Social Security system crisis is a politically manufactured crisis. He, (or was
it someone else), suggested that the only Social Security crisis there is at
this time is the manner in which the current Administration are said to be constantly
dipping into the Social Security funds to pay off enormous debts that have been
created by this President and his administration, and this money is being siphoned
off to artificially reduce the National Budget deficit.
By the way, the diversion of funds from the current Social Security scheme to
establish a privatised Pension system has been estimated will cost American taxpayers
up to two trillion dollars.
I would also suggest that if any system is going to go bust, it will be the Medicare
system where an immense number of fraudulent claims have been going on for many
years accompanied by an excessive increase in the cost of hospitalisation, medical
treatment, and physicians services, which will eventually bankrupt the system.
We welcome feedback about any of the contents of these
newsletters. Please send all correspondence to bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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