Truth - Al Franken [132]
Information about the poverty rate of seniors comes from a February 2005 report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), available on-line at www.cbpp.org/2-24-05socsec.htm.
The letter from the American Academy of Actuaries, dated December 19, 2003, is available on-line at www.actuary.org/pdf/socialsecurity/tech_dec03.pdf.
Secretary Snow was asked about the eighty-three-year retirement at a press conference on March 23, 2005, at the Treasury Department.
Many of the statistics in this chapter, including the projected dates on which the Trust Fund will zero out, were collected in a report prepared by Dean Baker and David Rosnick for the Center on Economic and Policy Research. It’s on-line at www.cepr.net/publications/facts_social_security.htm.
Mark Weisbrot’s column, which appeared in several newspapers in October 2004, was titled “Social Security: It’s Not Broken, So Don’t Fix It.”
The February 2, 2005, background briefing in which the “senior administration official” (Laura Bush) admitted to the pointlessness of private accounts was transcribed by the Washington Post.
President Bush’s fact-finding mission to Parkersburg, West Virginia, took place on April 2, 2005.
Charles Krauthammer’s column, “2042: A Fiscal Odyssey,” appeared in the Washington Post on February 18, 2005.
The Heritage Foundation’s pamphlet claiming that the Trust Fund was a sham, “The Social Security Trust Fund Fraud,” was written by Daniel Mitchell and published in February 1999.
The President spoke about Social Security during a news conference on April 28, 2005.
The President conversed with Bob McFadden at an event in Washington, D.C., on January 11, 2005.
The Heritage Foundation’s “extremely untrustworthy” study, titled “Social Security’s Rate of Return,” was published in January 1998. Stephen Goss criticized that report in a memorandum available on-line at www.cbpp.org/10-5-98socsec.htm#IV.%20%20Appendices. Heritage “replied” to its critics with “Social Security’s Rate of Return: A Reply to Our Critics” in December 1998.
The “significantly more trustworthy” Government Accountability Office study on minorities and Social Security can be found on-line at www.gao.gov/new.items/d03387.pdf.
Joshua Micah Marshall has the full text of the Peter Wehner memo on his blog. Check it out at www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/004348.php.
“Achieving a ‘Leninist’ Strategy,” by Stuart Butler and Peter Germanis, was published in the Fall 1983 Cato Journal.
The President gave his Lenin-inspired speech while on his fact-finding mission to Parkersburg, West Virginia, on April 5, 2005. He noted the repetitiveness of his line on May 24, 2005, in Greece, New York.
In this chapter, I was helped greatly by Michael Hiltzik’s book The Plot Against Social Security.
Scott McClellan’s press gaggle took place on February 3, 2005.
The President’s conversation with Mary Mornin took place on February 4, 2005.
Chapter 12: Plan of Attack—Attack the Planning
James Mann’s excellent book Rise of the Vulcans provided much of this chapter’s background information on the history of our nation’s Iraq policy, including the 1979 study by Paul Wolfowitz.
The text of President George H. W. Bush’s 1999 speech can be found on-line at www.fas.org/news/iraq/1999/03/a19990303bush.htm.
Paul Wolfowitz’s 1997 comment about the potential “permanent occupation” of Iraq by the United States appeared in The Future of Iraq, edited by John Calabrese and published in November 1997.
The Project for a New American Century’s 1998 letter to President Clinton can be found on-line at www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm.
Paul O’Neill’s account of the rush to war, including the divvying-up of Iraq oil fields, comes from Ron Suskind’s The Price of Loyalty.
Richard Clarke wrote about his experiences in the Bush administration after 9/11 in his book Against All Enemies.
President Bush claimed we