February 04, 2005

What Was that “Syrian Accountability Act” Mentioned by GWB in the SOTU?

From the SOTU:

You have passed, and we are applying, the Syrian Accountability Actand we expect the Syrian government to end all support for terror and open the door to freedom.

I thought I’d track down some info on just what that is.

Last week, President Bush signed into law H.R. 1828, the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003. The legislation calls on the president to impose sanctions on Syria to discourage support for international terrorist groups and the occupation of Lebanon.

The bill demands that Syria end support for terrorism; halt the development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) along with medium- and long-range missiles; and withdraw the roughly 20,000 troops it has deployed in Lebanon.

Here’s the text of the act:

108th CONGRESS
1st Session

S. 982

To halt Syrian support for terrorism, end its occupation of Lebanon, stop its development of weapons of mass destruction, cease its illegal importation of Iraqi oil, and hold Syria accountable for its role in the Middle East, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

May 1, 2003

And here’s the kicker. Do you know who introduced this act in the Senate, out of a very reasonable concern over weapons of mass destruction in the mid-east, before political expediency made her take a different position?

Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mr. SANTORUM) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

How about that? Senator Barbara Boxer, of California, who recently accused Condi Rice of lying to the American people when expressing similar concerns, herself sponsored this bill.

I’m sure Mrs. Boxer is aware of the grave dangers of WMDs in Syria, and is at the same time convinced there could not possibly have been any such dangers in Hussein’s Iraq. And by the way, she also has a bridge she’d like to sell you.

Update 2-4-05: Instalanche. Thanks, Glenn, and welcome, Instapundit readers!

So Just What Is That Thrift Savings Plan GWB Mentioned in the SOTU?

In the SOTU, GWB mentioned that his plan to let people invest a small amount of their Social Security contributions in investment funds, was similar to a Thrift Savings Plan:

The goal here is greater security in retirement, so we will set careful guidelines for personal accounts. We’ll make sure the money can only go into a conservative mix of bonds and stock funds. We’ll make sure that your earnings are not eaten up by hidden Wall Street fees. We’ll make sure there are good options to protect your investments from sudden market swings on the eve of your retirement. We’ll make sure a personal account cannot be emptied out all at once, but rather paid out over time, as an addition to traditional Social Security benefits. And we’ll make sure this plan is fiscally responsible, by starting personal retirement accounts gradually, and raising the yearly limits on contributions over time, eventually permitting all workers to set aside four percentage points of their payroll taxes in their accounts.

Personal retirement accounts should be familiar to federal employees, because you already have something similar, called the Thrift Savings Plan, which lets workers deposit a portion of their paychecks into any of five different broadly-based investment funds. It’s time to extend the same security, and choice, and ownership to young Americans. (Applause.)

I’d never heard of a Thrift Savings Plan before, so I thought I’d track down some info on it. I found descriptions of it on lots of government and military websites, for example:

The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is a tax deferred retirement savings and investment plan for Federal employees. It offers Federal employees the same type of savings and tax benefits that many private employers offer through their 401 (k) plans.

Oh, allright, so it’s like a 401 (k). Lots of people have heard of those.

But here was the cool part. Everybody’s worried that people will lose money on their investments under GWB’s proposal. I found a report on the actual returns on investment in Thrift Savings Plans over the last 14 years:

That’s pretty good income. This information is a useful response to concerns that people would lose money under GWB’s proposal.