"How can the president say that the private account in Social Security can never be taken away when his own Senior Administration Official admitted there is a built-in bait and switch that could eliminate benefits by 70 percent or more?"

Bush's Privatized Accounts in Social Security Include a Tax on Benefits. A Senior Administration Official briefed reporters before the President's State of the Union Address and described the tax. He said, "…in return for the opportunity to get the benefits from the personal account, the person foregoes a certain amount of benefits from the traditional system. Now, the way that election is structured, the person comes out ahead if their personal account exceeds a 3 percent real rate of return, which is the rate of return that the trust fund bonds receive. So, basically, the net effect on an individual's benefits would be zero if his personal account earned a 3 percent real rate of return." [White House Office of the Press Secretary, Background Press Briefing on Social Security, 2/2/05]