Tuesday, February 06, 2007


Is Means Testing Mean?



If you think means testing of benefits is well, mean, then get ready to defend yourself, if you can. In the just released, long-awaited "best seller", Budget of the United States Government-Fiscal Year 2008, President Bush lays out his plan to tax the wealthy. Click here to download all or part of the budget.

According to Financial Times reporters Caroline Daniel and Krishna Guha ("Bush wants to means-test middle-class benefits," February 5, 2007), the $2.9 trillion budget "represents a challenge to parts of the system of entitlements enacted as part of the Great Society agenda of the 1960s."

Key questions arise, some of which are listed below.

1. What constitutes "wealthy" and how often will the definition change?

2. How will wealth be measured for purposes of means testing? Income? Property? Private Benefits? Gross? Net? Nominal? Real? Adjusted by Geographic Region or Household Size?

3. Is means testing really fair?

4. Would privatization of federal benefits empower more people financially by changing incentives to save?

5. What is the likely economic impact of means testing?

6. How will companies and municipalities be adversely affected by means testing of Social Security and Medicare or will they gain?

What a field day for the economists and politicians!

Editor's Note:
Check out the online U.S. debt clock. Hit the refresh button a few times for a real scare as estimated indebtedness increases by large amounts within a matter of seconds.

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posted by Susan Mangiero at 2/06/2007 05:40:00 AM