[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 16, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PRESIDENT'S PRIVATE RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS SUBJECT TO HIGHEST LEVEL OF 
                                TAXATION

  (Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, one of the most 
interesting things about the President's plan to privatize Social 
Security is that for those individuals who decide to take out a private 
account, not only will that lead to benefit cuts into the future, very 
substantial benefit cuts for the recipients, up to 40 percent, but 
those who decide to take out the private accounts will find out at the 
time of their retirement that unless their accounts have earned 
inflation plus 3 percent, that they will be taxed up to 70 percent or 
higher of their benefits that they risked and put into that private 
account.
  It is rather interesting that Republicans who so often make ``no 
tax'' pledges will subject those retirees to the highest level of 
taxation of anybody else in the country. Most people pay 20, 15, 20, 25 
percent of their income, but those retirees on that benefit, on those 
accounts, the government will take back up to 70 percent of that unless 
they achieve some remarkable rate of return that is beyond the 
historical rates of return guaranteed by the marketplace.
  Mr. Speaker, it is a rather interesting proposal that that is where 
they would decide to levy taxes, on those retirees who open those 
private accounts, to increase savings in this country.

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