Word: surplus
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...presented with a gift horse? They dismember it and sell the pieces for votes. And that's exactly what Al Gore plans to do Tuesday, when - hot on the heels of Republican rival George W. Bush, who has publicized a strikingly similar plan - he jumps on brand-new government "surplus" estimates and announces an ambitious retirement investment plan. According to the Washington Post, the spectacularly expensive savings-investment plan would help participants save up to $2,000 per year, while (here's the kicker) draining government coffers of roughly $200 billion over 10 years. The scheme would provide government grants...
...What's different about this is that the new estimates of the budget surplus are about to be released, and it really brings into sharp focus not only the success of the last eight years, it's a validation of the basic strategy. It also puts into the sharp focus the big choices we have to make now in order to guarantee prosperity and progress, and the contrast is really quite clear. Governor Bush proposes to spend $1 trillion attempting to privatize Social Security and almost an additional $2 trillion on a huge tax plan that combined with the privatization...
...negative exercise. It's just a clearer presentation of the choice our country has to make. We need to have new incentives to encourage private savings. I've long argued for that. Earlier this year, I said I would be proposing such incentives. The new budget surplus estimates make it possible to have a very meaningful incentive for private savings and private investment. I've always encouraged investments in the stock market, investments in private savings accounts, but they should come on top of the foundation of Social Security. That's why I call it Social Security Plus. The difference...
...doesn't the growing surplus also make it more difficult to make the argument that the economy is all that much at risk...
...might if his proposals had not already way, way overshot even the most expansive surplus estimates. By his own numbers, and within the largest estimated surplus, it's way over, and would put the budget right back into deficit, the first year...