WP: Frist Hints of Sacrifices In Social Security Changes

[DeepModem Mom]

Frist Hints of Sacrifices In Social Security Changes

By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 17, 2005; Page A02


Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said yesterday that Americans might need to "take some medicine" to fix Social Security, and said he would consider a plan being floated by the White House that would reduce scheduled benefits.

White House officials, in promoting President Bush's idea of allowing younger workers to open personal stock accounts with part of their Social Security taxes, have raised the possibility of changing the formula for Social Security benefits so that they would rise with the rate of inflation rather than wages, which tend to grow faster than inflation.

Frist, a potential candidate for president in 2008, said on ABC's "This Week" that he wants "everything pretty much on the table" as he begins talking to Democrats, including adjusting benefits to price inflation instead of wage inflation.

"I think good policy makes good politics, ultimately," Frist said. "I think if we show boldness in addressing the issues now, and not in a catastrophic way five or six or seven years from now, but right now have people take some medicine, it'll be to the benefit of all Americans."...


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14274-2005Jan16.html

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. 'benefit of all American"--stockbrokers

I'm trying to figure out how to get the word out about cuts in SS. I think this is big, and something that might awaken the sheeple.

[aquart]

3. First, stop calling us "sheeple."

[truth2power]

20. I don't think any on this board

are sheeple. However, what would you call those who swallow the bullsh*t day after day after day?

Don't count me among those who want to "make nice" with people who are taking this country to hell in a handbasket. Tough love, I say!

[fertilizeonarbusto]

31. I agree

all of us pay for their idiocy. The time for politeness is over: call them the morons they are.

[TahitiNut]

24. "The Lord is my shepherd ..."

:eyes:

[DBoon]

37. Yes and shepherds castrate then slaughter theor flocks

They care for their sheep as "meals on hoof"

Get the sheep to accept the shepherd as the herd leader, instead of a real sheep.

Once you accomplish this deception, you can do with the sheep what you want.

[aquart]

2. I note that he does not expect to suffer, personally.

[liberal N proud]

4. They are going to keep pushing this crisis thing with SS until

the fundies all believe it.

[snippy]

13. Republicans have outlined their strategy for deceiving and manipulating

the public about Bush's plan for changing Social Security.

Social Security Push to Tap the GOP Faithful
Campaign's Tactics Will Drive Appeal

By Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, January 14, 2005; Page A06

President Bush plans to reactivate his reelection campaign's network of donors and activists to build pressure on lawmakers to allow workers to invest part of their Social Security taxes in the stock market, according to Republican strategists.

White House allies are launching a market-research project to figure out how to sell the plan in the most comprehensible and appealing way, and Republican marketing and public-relations gurus are building teams of consultants to promote it, the strategists said.

The campaign will use Bush's campaign-honed techniques of mass repetition, never deviating from the script and using the politics of fear to build support -- contending that a Social Security financial crisis is imminent when even Republican figures show it is decades away.

. . .

In addition to their own efforts, White House and RNC officials are working closely with the same outside groups that helped Bush win reelection in 2004, especially Progress for America, a political organization with close ties to Rove. RNC officials have privately told top congressional aides they will work with Progress for America and others to provide political cover through television ads supporting the Bush position and condemning those who oppose it. To coincide with Bush's new drive, Progress for America is running a television ad on Fox and CNN that compares Bush to Franklin Roosevelt, the father of Social Security.

The group also phoned or e-mailed Republicans, culled from its list of more than 1 million supporters, to enlist their help in selling the Bush plan, either by donating money or talking up the plan to neighbors. Brian McCabe, a spokesman for the group, said it is applying the lessons it learned electing a president to selling a public policy.

. . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7797-200...


Note that Bush and his minions now are so arrogant that they are openly boasting of intending to use "the politics of fear" to deceive and manipulate the public.

By the way, this article describes the democratic party as

"scrambling to organize in the face of a multimillion-dollar juggernaut, have yet to settle on any particular counterargument but said they believe Bush's rollout of the idea has been rocky and new details will give them more ammunition."

So while the republican party already has a well developed strategy and is doing market research, building teams of consultants to promote Bush's plan, and contacting Bush followers to help in "selling" the plan, the democratic party have yet to develop a strategy. Democrats need to make a much greater effort if they are to have any effect at all on Bush's plan. Democrats need at least a preliminary strategy which can be implemented immediately even if the entire strategy can not be fully developed until later.

At a minimum, Democrats should be educating the public about the actual facts concerning the financial condition of the Social Security program. An astonishing number of people, especially younger people, think that the Social Security program, if left unchanged, will be unable to pay any benefits at all in the future. Democrats need to correct that misimpression. Democrats also should be pointing out that Bush is keeping the details of his plan secret. Finally, democrats should be talking about the fact that the republicans have announced that they intend to use misinformation, campaign style rallies and tactics, and the "politics of fear" to persuade people to support Bush's plan.

Democrats also should be doing some market research, including some focus group research which includes both people who support Bush's plan and people who oppose it. Because Bush is keeping the details of his plan secret, democrats should be polling Bush followers and other supporters of private accounts to learn more about the expectations of those people so that the criticisms of the plan can be tailored to weaken support for Bush's plan. They also should be preparing to talk about the information concerning the performance of the federal government employee Thrift Savings Plan. Many of Bush's followers think that his plan will allow thenm to get rich. Democrats need to be prepared to crush those expectations when Bush finally reveals the details of his secret plan.

[DeepModem Mom]

41. Thanks for adding these articles, snippy!

[LynnTheDem]

5. To fund SS until the 22nd century costs LESS THAN we're spending in IRAQ

Costs LESS by FIVE TIMES what making bush's tax cuts permanent will cost.

WAKE UP, AMERICA.

[Ouabache]

19. Bush Sacrifices YOUR Social Security on the Altar of Tax Cuts for the Rich

Wonder how that goes down for the middle class and working classes?

[RC]

6. They tie Social Security to the rate of inflation

then will acknowledge the recession is much worse than they realize and reduce the benefits. With all due spin of course.

[DebJ]

7. I think Price Indexing will cut average benefits paid out by 50%

For a worker now in their twenties, I believe it was, instead of receiving about $23 k annually, they will get $12 k annually. And that is in 40 years.

[w4rma]

16. It wouldn't be the "price indexing" it would be the price to benefit ratio

set up at the beginning that would drop the benefits.

[teryang]

8. His family's corporation defrauded government of millions

...if not tens of millions. He dare's to speak of sacrifice? It was the medicare program they defrauded wasn't it? Maybe he and his family should sacrifice by returning that money to the government.

[snippy]

12. The total civil and criminal fines came to $1.7 billion.

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/June/03_civ_386.htm

[teryang]

51. thanks

great link. I guess that makes them great thieves and a moral exemplar to others.

[ladjf]

9. Yea. But the sacrifices won't be made by him , his family or

any of his buddies. This guy is bad and dangerous.

[susu369]

21. Doc Frist prescribing medicine - NO way

Yes I agree Frist is bad and dangerous because he has visions of grandeur (being President).

Rich People Beget Rich People....if you get my drift.

[ladjf]

50. Sort of like DNA replication. Yep,I got it.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. Here's my solution for changing the social security system:

Eliminate benefits for those in the top 1% income bracket.

[jayfish]

18. That And...

eliminate the $90,000 SS wage limit.

Jay

[Ironpost]

11. Get the koolaid ready, bill, we're getting mighty thirsty.

Looking out for my best interest aren't you bill. you pos

[indepat]

14. Piss-poor politics by piss-poor politicians make piss-poor policies

[Supersedeas]

15. Odd, I don't remember Soc Sec SACRIFICE being a campaign issue

[Ouabache]

17. Bush to Sacrifice YOUR Social Security on the Altar of Iraq War

wonder how that goes down with religious xenophobes?

[Demeter]

22. I Nominate Frist As Head Sacrifice

There is no one in the Senate more deserving of the honor of dying for his country, the welfare of its people, and the GOP cause.

[Ganja Ninja]

23. It's not a Social Security crisis, it's a tax crisis for the rich.

The year 2018 is when the payroll tax no longer pays a surplus to the general fund. That means the excess money we have been collecting and putting toward the general fund will have to be made up in the form of increased taxes. Those taxes will have to come from all tax payers not just the working poor and middle class.

That's why the right wing is in such a thither about the "crisis". The low tax rate they've been getting is coming to and end and the debt owed to the Social Security fund will have to, in part, come out of their pockets.

Think about it. Collecting more money today won't ease the burden of tomorrows tax payers. But it will ease the burden on rich tax payers that enjoy lower taxes thanks to a general fund supplemented by a payroll tax that hits the poor and middle class harder than the rich.

[gademocrat7]

25. social security scams

Frist is a scammer who has abandoned any form of decency. He has NOT adhered to the Hippocratic oath, but the hypocrite oath. WE must not let these scammers prevail.

[DeepModem Mom]

42. Right on, gademocrat -- welcome to DU!

[rzemanfl]

26. The most immediate effect of these changes and all the "sky is

falling" talk will be that older folks like myself will postpone retirement and spend less money. What will the effect of this be on younger workers who are being seduced by the "ownership society" bullshit? My guess is that it will supress their wages and benefits, limit their opportunities for advancement and hurt the economy as older people decide that a new car or big screen TV will just make them worry more about eating cat food in their old age. Can some MBA types comment on this?

I will be at retirement age shortly the end of the second * term. I am sure that things will be so screwed up by then that retirement will not be an option.

[yorkiemommie1]

48. i will be at retirement age at that time also

but probably won't be able to. of course i may be 'forcibly' retired from my parttime school district job WAY before then.

[Zenlitened]

27. Sacrifices. Oh yeah, we're all in this together, aren't we?

Let's all "take our medicine" together. What a crock.

This needs to be said out loud, plainly and simply: They are LYING about Social Security.

Not a difference in interpretation. Not competing ideas. Lies!

:grr:

[AndyTiedye]

28. If Wages Continue to Drop While Inflation is Picking Up Steam

this might actually help future SS recipients, though I'm sure that
isn't catkiller's intent.

[Trillo]

29. BushCo needs to pay for Empire and continuing the crusade, etc.

He's merging the American people into his plan by raiding "their" pension plan.

Why, in the quest for private accounts, are we forced to take a benefit cut to swallow their creation? Any of us can always open up "private accounts" of our own, we don't need the government to force that on us!

With the government, why does everything always seem to come down to force and compulsion? Isn't this anathema to "freedom"?

[ernstbass]

30. All repugs getting on message

and the pulbic will sop it up just like they always do!

[LibDemAlways]

32. I can't imagine even the dumbest freeper

not understanding that "benefit reduction" means less money in his old age and the probablity of spending his "golden years" sleeping on the couch under the velvet Jesus painting in his son or daughter's living room. The BFEE wants us all to take a giant step backwards to the time when being elderly meant poverty and dependence for millions.

[Demeter]

39. Believe It

The delusional always believe that they are special and the rules don't apply to them. That's what makes a Freeper, the very defintion!

[DeepModem Mom]

40. Oh, that's good, LDA -- sleeping at their kids' house under the velvet...

painting!

[LibDemAlways]

43. That's absolutely true.

When I was a kid in the 50s my grandmother was an impoverished senior who spent her last years like a nomad, spending a few weeks at a time at the homes of each of her children, so as not to be a "burden" to any one. Any messing with benefits, and that's the road we're on...better get that spare bedroom (those luck enough to have one) fixed up for grandma.

[LibDemAlways]

44. That's absolutely true.

When I was a kid in the 50s my grandmother was an impoverished senior who spent her last years like a nomad, spending a few weeks at a time at the homes of each of her children, so as not to be a "burden" to any one. Any messing with benefits, and that's the road we're on...better get that spare bedroom (those lucky enough to have one) fixed up for grandma.

[Massachusetts]

33. Religious fanatics and court jesters

The boy king and his court of jesters have perfected the catch phrases for the SS battle right from the bible.

The religious zealots and fanatics love to hear the words and phrases like sacrifice (inspiration), and "take some medicine" (folksy America). They will heed these phrases and words as a "higher" call to battle that will help Ye win the ticket to the promised land.

This type of American is a danger and an ultimate threat to OUR democracy. The Corporate slobs are more than happy to stand by and watch these morons become hypnotized yet again by the "Fool on the hill", because the bottom line is, you get the support, you get the $$$$$.

This fight WILL determine who REALLY has the power in this country of OURS! WE CANNOT LOSE!:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Deja Q]

34. except for the wealthy ones. I wish these pigs would ham themselves.

[74dodgedart]

Why not cut corporate tax benefits ?

Frist is tough with senior citizens, but won't stand up to business intrests..

[74dodgedart]

35. Why not cut corporate tax benefits ?

Frist is tough with senior citizens, but won't stand up to business intrests..

[74dodgedart]

36. How about we cut senate pension plans first ?

[FlaGranny]

38. They need to show us what

their sacrifices will be. If our Social Security benefits will be cut 50%, then they need to give up 50% of their incomes to act as inspirational examples for the rest of us. Of course, giving up 50% of their incomes will still mean they have hundreds of thousands or millions to "get by" on and would still be a far cry from being "equitable," but hey, it would be a nice gesture. We shouldn't hold our collective breath waiting for this symbolic sacrifice. Poor as I am, I really believe it would personally hurt the rich more than me, because they are so much more addicted to their personal wealth. The poor things would be emotionally devastated. Of course, I can't be addicted to wealth, cause I don't have any in the first place. At times like this, I really, really would like to believe that "rich guy-eye of the needle" thing.

[rox63]

45. I suggest all who want to cut Social Security benefits

Should be forced to live on just their Social Security when they get old. Let's see what they decide to do with that.



:grr: :grr: :grr:

[Megahurtz]

46. Take some medicine?????

FUCK YOU!!!:argh:

[DeepModem Mom]

47. Megahurtz, you pretty much said it all --

in a few select words!

[bvar22]

49. Keep the message simple:

BUSH IS STEALING YOUR RETIREMENT MONEY and giving it to his RICH FRIENDS!!!

[MasonJar]

52. Many of the rich are (to quote Daffy Duck) des s spic able. The

Frist family bottom feeders fit perfectly into that category, right along with Kenny Boy, Georgie Porgie et al. Frist is a cat killer and Stump a frog exploder; those actions indicate sociopathic tendencies. However, the world owes much to many of the rich. Soros leaps immediately to mind. He is once again pouring millions into projects to protect democracy. The Kennedys, the Roosevelts, John Kerry and many etcs. have spent their lives in duty to their country, the world, its environment. Note, for example, the play derived from Kerry Kennedy's book, Robert Kennedy, Jr. as an attorney for environmental protection, Kerry's plans to fix the vote, Ted's progressive agenda. Being rich of itself is not bad, only its corruption of the weak-minded. That said let's go get them. These latter fine men need our support and assistance.

[struggle4progress]

53. Ownship Society to Workers: "Screw You!" eom