So Bush apparently decided he had more “political capital†(as he calls it) than even Ronald Reagan. The current President went out on a spending spree and tried to buy himself a laundry list of expensive items. He quickly got himself into a serious debt and dragged his party along. He started out by increasing spending for the war profiteers (not our soldiers), then cutting social programs (including Medicaid which kept Terry Schiavo alive), continued by attempting to cram whacko conservative activist judges through the Senate, and topped it all off with a radical risky change to the Social Security System. Bush must have thought that his 1% mandate was enough political capital to force a weak opposition to lay down again and get ripped off. Unfortunately the Democrats didn’t lay down like he thought they would. Just like the Iraqi insurgency, he figured that brute force would force capitulation, and not galvanize the opposition. Bring ‘em on! He declared. And just like any group that has endured heavy-handed tactics, the Democrats began to bring it.
So our naïve leader took out a political capital loan and spent it on fake town hall meetings and a 60 day push to convince America that it could afford a $3 Trillion debt to make Wall St. richer. On day 60 however, America didn’t agree, and the momentum is beginning to swing against him. Bush’s so called “strengthening of Social Security†is beginning to be seen for what it really is, just a plan to invest borrowed government money in the stock market in what is called “private accountsâ€.
When Reagan cut Social Security costs, he was forced to raise taxes in the famous Tip O’Neil-Reagan compromise. Bush seems to think that he is a better politician than Reagan, because Bush is offering no compromise to mess with Social Security. In politics this is a common tactic used by dictators, follow me or else! While there are some opportunists who see this as something they can benefit from (like Wall St.), the vast majority of Americans feel very uneasy with Bush’s plan, which they waited 4 months to hear. I believe the old saying is, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!†America obviously thinks this according to all the latest polls.
It sounds great right? All the money you pay now is invested into some sort of stock option. You get rich on the overall growth of the stock market (the same theory behind mutual funds). Unfortunately, Social Security doesn’t work the way Mr. Bush would have you believe. The money you pay now, doesn’t go to some bank account where the government gets rich off of you, it goes to retired and disabled people now. So Bush needs to borrow the 3 Trillion dollars to pay for the people who are receiving S.S. now, because guess what? The government isn’t getting rich of our S.S. payments. That is a myth created by republican propagandists.
This risky system places all of us in danger, because with the U.S. borrowing record amounts of money, and the U.S. budget in record deficit, a tremendous amount of uncertainty develops. Uncertainty is bad for business, just watch the stock indexes during any period of confusion (ie: The Iraq War, 9-11, Elections). Plus if Social Security fails, guess who has to pay for their parents? That’s right, the children. Kiss middle-class existence good buy if you have to pay for your parent’s food, shelter and medical bills.
Social Security is not meant to be a gamble, it is meant to be a secure payment waiting for you at retirement, NO MATTER WHAT! The world Social in Social Security doesn’t mean selfishness, it means all of us, together, helping one another out through life’s difficulties. I believe Kennedy said it best, “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.â€
If people want to invest in the stock market so bad, they can do so at any time. There are many great options out there, such as Roth IRAs, 401k plans and Mutual Funds. Ironically, if you had any of these, you actually have lost money since Bush took office, the Stock Market is lower than it was in 2001.
DJIA Stock Chart
And the economy has been struggling with lack luster GDP growth. I suppose Republicans are not very good at business, although they seem to worship the dollar bill so much. (GDP Figures). In fact, Bush’s presidency has marked an era plagued with economic scandals, like Enron, and the Mutual Fund Scandals. Traders have been arrested for insider trading, and outsourcing has become a positive buzz word for CEOs looking to cut costs. With the economy’s lack luster performance, many are beginning to question the original belief that the Stock Market will continue to grow at a regular pace. Perhaps we are reaching the ceilings of economic growth. If this is the case, than Bush’s theory of growth is just a pipedream. And you need not look very far to see the negative affects of his plan, as mentioned earlier, IRAs and mutual funds have lost money during his reign.
I shudder to think about what this gamble would do to those receiving pensions and 401k plans. As corporations are beginning to cut health care to retired workers (that’s right, workers that were promised lifetime health care in a contract), they will find great excuses to cut options and benefits built around an empty promise from Bush that they have a great retirement package ahead for them.
Transcript from NOW
Modern corporations could care less about you or your future, and that’s whom Bush represents, not the religious, not the small business owners and certainly not the Libertarians and absolutely not the American people.
The only people that gain from this game show version of Social Security, are the companies that we will be forced to invest in. The Dow Jones Industrials look to see something of at least a 5-10% gain. If this hair brain scheme goes through, buy stock before it kicks in, and sell it once it settles down.
Fortunately, it seems most Americans have enough sense to know that this whole hoopla about social security is just one big distraction With the approval ratings of this Republican Congress in the toilet (30-35%) and Bush’s own ratings not much better (40-45%), an on going war in Iraq that is claiming more and more lives every day, an economy staggering through lack luster growth, rising inflation and gasoline prices that are closing in on the all time high (adjusted for inflation that is, otherwise gas is the most expensive ever) and an America becoming increasingly divided, the powers that be are forced to either deal with the problems that lie before them, or distract us.
It takes a real gutsy person with good ideas to stand up in the face of an America in crisis. Unfortunately for us, we are still waiting for that person to step forward.