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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPlutocrats' New Pitch: Let Us Rob You Now So You Can Plan Ahead for Poverty
http://www.alternet.org/economy/pete-peterson-and-social-securitySomehow, Ive wound up on the mailing list for a group of oligarchs campaigning to swindle Americans out of their hard-earned retirement insurance. Hedge fund billionaire Pete Peterson, the budget buffoons Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, and the rest of their merry band of hustlers over at the hilariously named Committee for a Responsible Budget have asked me to consider their latest proposal.
So I thought Id oblige them, what the heck.
Judging from the shrill headline in their mailing, these men (and a token woman or two) wish to sell me on the idea of Social Security Reform and the Cost of Delay.
The cost of delay? Boys, I hear you on that. Any delay in ripping me off must be very costly for you.
Social Security, the most prudently managed and economically sound retirement program the country has ever seen, and with the very lowest costs, is preventing you from piling up even more money in your bank accounts. Trust me, I really do understand how you feel: Financiers desperately wish to get their mitts on American retirements so they can charge all sorts of outrageous fees. And you hate the prospect of having to pay higher taxes in the future if you dont fix Social Security.
DiverDave
(4,886 posts)when you steal enough that we ALL know where you live, not one nickle in your offshore bank accounts is going to save you...
Chemisse
(30,813 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)n2doc
(47,953 posts)Look at Wisconsin. The Police are more than happy to stamp out dissent. Same in other places.
The 1% know this well. That is why you see so much glorification of the active military and police, while vets are discarded.
HumansAndResources
(229 posts)Oh yeah, (sigh). Time to clean up the party, folks.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Their security will increase in direct proportion to the amount of wealth they steal.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)silvershadow
(10,336 posts)In broad daylight? This needs to be bumped. Pay attention, folks. They're coming after every last nickel they can get their hands on, and they don't even need it. There are a zillion other ways, all of which require the wealthy to contribute more.
HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)A funny facebook graphic was going around the other day. It was a letter from one of those "concerned citizens" telling us why he wants to "vote Democratic", listing all sorts of supreme conservative falsehoods and yarns about them durned libruls. One that I found telling was along the lines of taking Social Security away from American citizens who have paid into it all their lives, but giving it to (insert favorite ethnic scapegoat)s who come over here.
OK, STOP, son. Defunding and eliminating Social Security is a RIGHT wing thing; that noise doesn't come from progressives, thank you very little.
bluedeathray
(511 posts)By those with the most against those who have the least. Endorsed by a great portion of the "leaders" we've chosen to run the country.
This is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. The time for us to act is now.
zeemike
(18,998 posts)They want that social security money so they can save it for you...trust them, have they ever been wrong in the past?
valerief
(53,235 posts)Cryptoad
(8,254 posts)Remove the FICA tax cap so the Rich pay the same rate as everybody else! Presto.....!
kentuck
(111,104 posts)Bastards.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)The closest Wall Street ever got to stealing our Social Security was with Dubya's proposal to "privatize" it, and that went over like a lead balloon.... and that was before the 2008 financial collapse!
The Wizard
(12,545 posts)may be the only deterrent. A Wall Street bankster swinging from a traffic light will send a message.
tanyev
(42,572 posts)At Sat Aug 24, 2013, 09:05 AM an alert was sent on the following post:
Pitchforks, torches and rope
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3525619
REASON FOR ALERT:
This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate. (See <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=aboutus#communitystandards" target="_blank">Community Standards</a>.)
ALERTER'S COMMENTS:
"A Wall Street bankster swinging from a traffic light will send a message." Um, this is rather over the top - not to mention a TOS violation. Advocating violence, even against Wall Street banksters, is not a good thing.
You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Sat Aug 24, 2013, 09:12 AM, and the Jury voted 2-4 to LEAVE IT.
Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: Liberals better arm themselves or we will be the ones hanging from traffic lights.
The rw has a final solution and a lot of them openly brag about it.
I will be fighting back! Buy guns liberals! We will need them!
Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given
Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.
sorefeet
(1,241 posts)Ain't nobody going to do NOTHING. Buy the latest gadget, watch the latest lies on the TV news and believe it. Look at the fucking price of gasoline, if it went to $10.00 a gallon the people of this country would just snivel and pay for it as they starved to death. They send your children off in herds ,to foreign countries to die for the rich to get richer like Dick Cheney and then convince you that your child died as a hero for America!! I see a bunch of spineless puppets that get just enough perks, IPODS and fake freedom to keep their mouths shut or their heads in the sand to not get involved in their true duty to the country. Which is, Pitch Forks, Torches and a ROPE. Because the rule of law doesn't seem to work in this country. Because the person who NEEDS the rope, makes the laws to protect himself from the rope.
RedRocco
(454 posts)Berlum
(7,044 posts)HumansAndResources
(229 posts)Those who would steal our retirements often use this language. Social Security payments Purchase Treasury Bills. The same kind of T-Bills that the Chinese trade for mines in South America. They are far from 'worthless' (though the Fed may yet change this if we get more of the same ... Summers or similar).
If a right-winger says we should end Social Security, ask him if it is OK if you get Your T-Bills Back - the ones You Paid For - as part of that arrangement. He likely won't know what you are talking about. He probably thinks his 'income taxes' pay for Social Security.