Demagogue

Jesse at Pandagon takes on President Bush's private-accounts rhetoric -- specifically, the notion that private accounts would be "owned" by each individual citizen.

Here's what Bush said in his SOTU last night:

If you are a younger worker, I believe you should be able to set aside part of that money in your own retirement account ...

Here is why personal accounts are a better deal ... you'll be able to pass along the money that accumulates in your personal account, if you wish, to your children or grandchildren. And best of all, the money in the account is yours, and the government can never take it away.

Not so, says Jesse, who points to this Associated Press article from Wednesday. Based on interviews with GOP Congressional leaders, the AP article explains how private accounts would work under Bush's plan:

All workers choosing to set up a personal account would be required to purchase an investment that would combine with their monthly government check to assure income above the federal poverty level during retirement.

Any funds that remained available under these annuities after death would go to the Social Security program; the money could not be inherited. While that would assure retirees a monthly check while they live, it also could undercut what polling shows is one of the most persuasive arguments on behalf of personal accounts -- that they can be inherited.

If the AP's description of the private-accounts plan is accurate, then Bush is lying -- probably deliberately. Time will tell.