President's goal is phase-out of Social Security.............Josh Marshall

A number of very good articles on SS and a link to an article by Sidney Blumenthal....

In generalities, the point is widely understood. But in this article by Sidney Blumenthal from yesterday, the specifics are assembled together. The point being that nothing President Bush is saying now about Social Security is new. In fact, almost word for word his statements are close to identical to Republican attacks on Social Security from as far back as 1936.

A few examples.

The 1936 Republican platform: "Society has an obligation to promote the security of the people, by affording some measure of protection against involuntary unemployment and dependency in old age. The New Deal policies, while purporting to provide social security, have, in fact, endangered it ...the fund will contain nothing but the government's promise to pay ... unworkable."

Goldwater on Social Security from '64: "It promises more benefits to more people than the incomes collected will provide." It's always been the same. The Trust Fund doesn't exist. The system is on the verge of bankruptcy. It can't deliver what it promises. The program should be voluntary.

All that is different now is that a sitting president has chosen to make a showdown over the issue.

I've said probably too many times over the last couple days that however they choose to dress it up and whatever sort of compromise they want to present it as, the president's goal is still phase-out. That's why he's invested so much in this politically. And if you want to grasp the stakes of all this -- both politically and in terms of policy -- just look at the fact that the White House is now redoubling its efforts to push privatization in the face of public opinion which appears to be congealing against them. They understand the consequences of defeat.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2005_02_27.php#004992

great arguments.

'Phase in'.

What one political group can-do another can un-do.

It is just a matter of time.

180

Let's call it what it is.

The super wealthy against everyone else.

That is the definition of Class Warfare.

"Corn Laws" (NAFTA, CAFTA, Tax breaks for Outsourcing), "Poor Laws" (Phase out of Social Security), and Wars for Oil.

A good comparison is in "A Century Of War : Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order" by F. William Engdahl.

Not a comple 1 to 1 analogy - but pretty close.

Scary.

Oh god, please let those be annihilation in a vat of burning oil, please?

Failing that, how about a re-awakening of the media?

This is too much to ask, isn't it?