Political Quotes

“there are people who say they want a dialogue on Social Security. I suggest such a dialogue would be like a cat having a dialogue with a mouse, or maybe a crocodile having a dialogue with a frog, or perhaps a shark having a dialogue with a tuna. Because Wall Street having a dialogue over Social Security with senior citizens is just as predatory, because they do not really want a dialogue. They already know what they want to do with Social Security, I would say to Mr. and Mrs. America. They want to take benefits from them and use those benefits to fuel growth in the stock market. Mr. Speaker, it is really about privatization. That is what they mean when they say, ``Let us have a dialogue.'' A dialogue with Wall Street is about how to grab Americans' retirement funds through privatization. Mr. Speaker, there is no crisis. The current tax and benefit rates remaining constant, Social Security will pay 100 percent of the benefits of future recipients until 2032 without any change whatsoever. In today's Cleveland Plain Dealer, my hometown, it says, ``Social Security's health is improving.'' A problem that could develop in 35 years is not a crisis, it is a projection. The privatization dialogue would dismantle a hugely popular and successful government program and deliver a hugely profitable kitty for Wall Street investors to charge fees on. Privatizing Social Security is a radical, extreme measure.”