MAGA queen Scott Bessent unveils plot to privatize social security

I’ve counted five Wall Street mishaps the past 20 years and have another 20 before I plan to collect. How is this supposed to work?

Can investors make money shorting the government? I’m pretty sure they can.

If the masses were in revolt over Obamacare …

Exactly, it's the security part of Social Security that is the most important, and that's what they want to kill r1. They want this to be the same crapshoot they want for all of the economy. A few winners, a lot of losers, and most everyone scraping by awaiting the inevitable disaster that fucks them up for good. That's the goal. That's their fucking ideal.

This interpretation is WAYoverblown.

He is saying the Trump accounts will turn people into investors who will see massive market returns that make them want those over Social Security. But the Trump accounts only apply to those born between 2025 and 2028. A thousand dollars will not grow enough to make that argument in our lifetimes.

Wealthy, silo'ed assholes like this masterminded Ronald Reagan's fucking DESTRUCTION of many millions of state agency and state university employees' retirement funds.

Instead of continuing the "it ain't broke, so don't "fix" it" public employee pension system, they passed laws eliminating those pensions in favor of "optional retirement plans" that weren't at all "optional." These plans forced incoming employees off civil service and onto glorified IRAs completely at the mercy of the sainted "market." Oh, yeah--after a few years (fewer than 10, actually) they DROPPED the required matching funds the agency/uni were supposed to kick into the kitty. So if you worked 30 years but never cracked $30,000 per year, you are royally and everlastingly FUCKED. And since those employees are not paying into SS (and aren't allowed to voluntarily divert part of their pay into SS!) they won't even get a pittance from the government when they retire/leave.

So now you have millions of retirees who really can't afford to retire, but physically they're not able to compete with the new young crop of hires.

It's so fucking obscene.

^^And the above is what they now want to do to EVERYONE.^^

He needs to fuck off.

Scott Pissant.

At the very least, you'll be charged a "convenience fee" for having your money wired into your checking account.

And that fee will be some ridiculously over inflated amount, say $15/month for a transaction that costs a bank about 15 cents to process. And like all bank fees, it will increase every year. Remember, Jaime Dimon's profit margins at Chase have to remain high.

Graham always does that. That’s how he sits.

Bless your heart R11.

[quote]If the masses were in revolt over Obamacare …

I'm surprised at DL sometimes. For all the talk of how old the posters here are, they sure have short memories.

Bush II already tried this, and people did lose their shit. This is almost certainly not happening.

February 2005 – Republican President George W. Bush outlined a major initiative to reform Social Security which included partial privatization of the system, personal Social Security accounts, and options to permit Americans to divert a portion of their Social Security tax (FICA) into secured investments. In his 2005 State of the Union Address, Bush discussed the potential bankruptcy of the program. Democrats opposed the proposal.[63] Bush campaigned for the initiative in a 60-day national tour.[64] However, public support for the proposal only declined.[65] The House Republican leadership tabled Social Security reform for the remainder of the session.[66] In the 2006 midterm elections, Democrats gained control of both houses, effectively killing the plan for the remainder of Bush's term in office.

It is interesting that Republicans are getting used to the idea of the government sending out checks to people, pretty much in a redistributionist manner. Both Besent and Hawley are now onboard with the general idea. One as some kind of bullshit "investment" fuckery. The other as some kind of bullshit rebate for the shitty stupid tariffs. That actually can be helpful, and in fact, Democrats should probably start by saying yes, you guys are right in the general idea that the government should start sending out checks to redistribute money from the rich, the only group that any Trump policy ever truly benefits, to the less well off, as a proposition.

Now, let's talk amounts. And also broaden the idea of who suffers from the Rich Only policies of the Republican Party, and see if we can't balance that out somewhat.