Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan gave Democrats nothing of what they wanted a fortnight ago. Greenspan was demure last month. Today, he was crisp:
In his testimony Wednesday, Greenspan repeated a warning he first made a year ago, saying he believed the government had promised more than it could deliver to the 78 million baby boomers now approaching retirement and saying that cuts in benefits would have to be considered."If existing promises need to be changed, those changes should be made sooner rather than later," he told the House Budget Committee.
Greenspan reiterated that he supports President Bush's push for setting up personal retirement accounts by diverting up to 4 percentage points of payroll taxes into the new accounts.
..."In the end, the consequences for the U.S. economy of doing nothing could be severe," he said.
It's a bad day for the reactionary left, one of an estimated three hundred sixty-five this year.
BONUS: On a day when Greenspan judged the economy to be expanding at a "reasonably good pace," the Dow Jones touched 10,869 — its highest level since 2001.