Word: socialism
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Clinton plan would consecrate most of the budget surplus over the next 15 years to Social Security, delaying its collapse from 2032 to 2055. For the first time the plan would also allow 15% of the fund to be invested in the stock market, so that some of our Social Security dollars could earn as much as those in our mutual funds. (Now invested in Treasury bonds, the money earns from 4% to 5% a year--only a bit better than shoving it under a mattress...
Clinton got the public applause he wanted: in a TIME/CNN poll last week, 61% of those surveyed said they agree with dedicating all or most of next year's surplus money to Social Security, vs. 31% who think it should be used to lower taxes. But Clinton's plan also absorbed the expected blows. Though the minority leaders in both houses endorsed the plan, other Democrats think even microscopic tinkering with the party's hallowed invention--let alone Clinton's fairly substantial changes--would be unacceptable. Many Republicans--who want to use much of the surplus for tax cuts...
...most important, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan--the patron saint of our prosperity--hated it. "I do not believe that it is politically feasible to insulate such huge funds from government direction," he said. That's Greenspanese for a simple concern: by investing some $700 billion in Social Security funds, the government-cum-shareholder would inject politics into the free market and unduly influence corporate decision-making. Would the government, for example, bring an antitrust or discrimination suit against a company it (partially) owns...
...little precious for Republicans to cite these worries, since the notion of investing Social Security funds in the market has been kicked around the G.O.P. for years. And Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin had a nice retort to Greenspan: an independent body would oversee the investments, he said, so "there will be no--zero!--government involvement...I might add that the Federal Reserve Board itself is a very good example...
...Communist Party does have some trepidation about these "free" elections. Growing social discontent alarms China's leaders, who believe stability is necessary to improve the nation's economy. "A lot of things are going on beyond Beijing's control," notes Emory University professor Robert Pastor. That uneasiness has led to some very public crackdowns, most recently against the nascent China Democracy Party...