Rep. Levin Calls on Bush Administration to Come Clean with the Public
about the Massive Benefit Cuts and Major Borrowing inherent in their Social
Security Privatization Plans
On Feb. 7, after the Vice President acknowledged that diverting money from
Social Security to set up private accounts would require the government to
borrow trillions of dollars, Rep. Levin said, "It is doubly disingenuous
for the Administration to continue using false scare-tactic terms like ‘belly
up, ‘flat bust,’ and ‘broke’ when their solution only makes matters much
worse for Social Security. To read Rep. Levin’s full statement, click
here.
After the President’s Detroit Economic Speech, Rep. Levin issued a statement
clarifying that the ‘$250,000 Nest Egg’ that President Bush ascribed to a
younger worker would be hit by Double Benefit Cuts in privatization plans. To
read a full description of these benefit cuts, click
here.
President’s 2006 Budget Delivered to Congress: Record Budget Deficits
Predicted
On February 7, the Bush Administration released its 2006 budget. The
President’s budget calls for a 2005 deficit of $427 billion - the third year
in a row that the Administration will set a new deficit record. The President’s
budget predicts a smaller $390 billion deficit in 2006, with declining deficits
in subsequent years, but these figures mask the size of the budgetary problem by
omitting the full costs of the Administration’s policy agenda. For example,
the President’s budget assumes there will be no costs for Iraq and Afghanistan
after this year, but the Pentagon has already announced that U.S. troops will
remain on the ground there through at least the end of 2006, and very likely for
many years thereafter. The Bush Administration’s budget also did not include
any costs for the President’s goal of privatizing Social Security, which is
estimated to cost about $750 billion over the period of 2009 to 2015 alone.
Costs for Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Skyrocket
One contributing factor to the red ink contained in the Bush Administration’s
budget is a dramatic rise in the price-tag for the new Medicare prescription
drug bill that was narrowly approved by Congress in 2003. At the time, the Bush
Administration promised to hold down the ten-year cost of the drug package to
$400 billion. In its recent budget submission, the White House now admits that
the prescription drug package will cost hundreds of billions of dollars more
over the next ten years. The new cost estimate indicates the drug benefit
program will actually cost at least $720 billion between 2006 and 2015. Rep.
Levin has co-sponsored legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate with drug
companies for lower prices (currently prohibited in the Bush law) and to allow
the importation of safe, lower-cost drugs from Canada.
Legislation Introduced to Protect Arctic Wildlife Refuge from Drilling
On February 2, Rep. Levin and a bipartisan group of over 100 other House
members introduced legislation to permanently protect the Coastal Plain of the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from development by granting the Refuge full
wilderness status. The House of Representatives is expected to debate a sweeping
energy package in the next few weeks. One of the fiercest fights during the
upcoming Floor debate will be the Bush Administration’s proposal to open up
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
House Approves REAL ID Bill Overriding Two-Month-Old Anti-Terrorism Law
In late December, Congress approved landmark legislation to implement the
recommendations of the bipartisan 9-11 Commission. One of the provisions of the
new Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 law addresses the 9/11 Commission’s
concerns regarding driver's licenses and identity documents; specifically, the
Act requires strict new minimum standards for driver’s licenses to be
established by security experts at the Department of Homeland Security, working
in consultation with the 50 states. On February 10, a divided House voted 261 to
161 to override the two-month-old anti-terrorism law and instead mandate federal
driver’s license requirements on state governments without consultation.
Opponents of the measure warned that the REAL ID bill would severely undermine
the law enforcement utility of Department of Motor Vehicles databases by
limiting, rather than expanding, government data about individuals in this
country. A large number of human rights and religious groups - including Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops -
also opposed the REAL ID bill’s changes in U.S. asylum laws because these
provisions would harm those fleeing religious persecution and could lead to
their deportation into the hands of their persecutors.