Neutering Social Security
by Jim Hightower, Hightower Lowdown, AlterNet.org
Naming the names behind the grab for Social Security
When
George W. says he's going to “fix” our Social Security system, I feel
like a dog that's just been told, “We're taking you to the vet to get
you fixed.”
Whether
it's to dogs or to We the People, George's message is the same: This
radical surgery is needed for your own good. If, however, you suspect
that something besides your welfare is really motivating him … you're
exactly right.
Extremist,
right-wing ideology and the insatiable corporate grab for money are the
two forces behind Bush's push not merely to neuter this enormously
popular and effective retirement program … but ultimately to kill it.
As reported in last month's Lowdown, step one is to portray Social
Security as fatally flawed. The promised benefits are a “hoax,” the
taxes paid into the trust fund are “wasted” rather than invested for
maximum return, and “the so-called reserve fund … is no reserve at
all.”
Interestingly,
these are quotes not from today's alarmist Bushites but from the lips
of Alf Landon and the pages of his party's platform when he was the
Republican candidate for president way back in 1936! Note that the
first Social Security check was not mailed until 1937, so the
ideologues and big money interests were predicting doom and gloom and
trying to undermine the program even before it started.
Indeed,
dismantling Social Security has been a central tenet of the right wing
for nearly 70 years, and it's been an increasingly serious goal of GOP
presidential politics since the hardcore right made its grab for the
reins of the party's national leadership with Barry Goldwater's 1964
run. Nothing that Bush is saying today is new. Just as George is now
doing, Goldwater painted a picture of a collapsing system 40 years
ago….
(Click here to read the complete article.)
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