The Greenscam Revs Up

by rayman

Hmm...is it any coincidence that, right when support for Social Security privatization appears headed for a free-fall, Federal Reserve Chairman and moonlighting Republican hatchet-man Alan Greenspan feels compelled to ramp up the doomsday talk?

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress that the mounting financial pressure of a wave of retiring baby boomers is so great that cuts in future government retirement benefits are all but inevitable.

The Fed chairman told the Senate Special Committee on Aging that the nation has about three years to work out a fix. "In 2008, the leading edge of what must surely be the largest shift from retirement in our nation's history will become evident as some baby boomers become eligible for Social Security," he said in his prepared remarks.

Fortunately, the Democrats are finally getting wise to the Maestro's trickery, led by none other than HRC:

Senator Hillary Clinton challenged the Fed chairman on his support for tax cuts early in President Bush's first term. Many Democrats blame the tax cuts for helping turn the budget surplus that existed at the end of President Clinton's first term into record deficits, and lately more and more have accused Greenspan of favoring Bush policies, contrary to his official status as an independent chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Greenspan said most leading economists at the time had expected budget surpluses to stretch into the future, citing forecasts by the Office of Management and Budget as well as by the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office. And he said that he had also pushed for tight rules on Congressional spending and more fiscal discipline.

Sure ya did, you double-dealing little cretin. I think the blogosphere will have a gay ole' time trashing Greenspan's much-cherished "legacy" between now and his blessed retirement. Let the festivities begin.