Bush Plans a Media Blitz on Social Security

[wicket]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=564&e=2&u=/nm/20041222/ts_nm/bush_socialsecurity_dc_1

President Bush (news - web sites) will spearhead an election-style public relations campaign early next year to try to convince Americans that Social Security is in urgent need of change but will keep dollar and cent details deliberately vague, analysts and officials say.

With Bush's political capital riding on a successful overhaul of the popular retirement program, the White House and its allies plan to bombard the public with presidential speeches, television and radio ads, newspaper op-ed articles and grass-roots rallies between now and early 2005.

"It's going to be a battle royal, very much like an election campaign but over an issue rather than a candidate," said Stephen Moore, executive director of Club for Growth, a Republican group that hopes to spend $15 million on a media campaign backing the White House.

"This is about winning, and Bush can't afford to lose."

Meanwhile, opponents accuse the White House of exaggerating the issue's urgency, saying it used a similar ploy to justify the war in Iraq by citing an urgent threat from Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that have never been found.

[Beetwasher]

1. Spare Me

Please, really, spare me...Or spear me, or something...I'm not sure I can take this...It may just become too much for me to stomach...

[driver8]

40. Enough with the Social Security!

Good God -- hasn't he fucked up enough stuff without going after Social Security??

Leave it alone, ass munch. You have already guaranteed your "legacy" with Iraq...

[tom_paine]

2. In other words, the Pravda Whores will soon be doing what they do so well

Can't we ship them off to Commie China, where they won't have to change much at all regarding their "journalistic practices" (hah!) except they might have a hard time searching for the Chinese Michael Jackson to tout?

I still remember when America was free. It seems like so long ago!

[nodictators]

16. Exactly! Except it should be called a Media "Blitzkrieg."

That would be more appropriate in Fourth Reich-speak.

Bush goes to War against the American People!

[Pirate Smile]

3. They are going to push it the same way they did the IRAQ WAR.

That is their model. They will spin a "MUSHROOM CLOUD" argument about the dire state of SS just as they did before we invaded Iraq.

They have already said as much in an earlier WP article.

[Stinky The Clown]

25. Maybe NOW people will see him for the liar he is

Surely most thinking people, no matter what they originally thought about The War in Iraq(tm), will question the veracity of anything this fucking asshole has to say. THIS is an issue that affects them DIRECTLY. No rah-rah shit .... just their fucking wallets.

We need to post pictures of destitute grannies everywhere we can.

[countryjake]

28. He's already got the rah-rah going...

in his press conference he said something like, imagine our young people having a share in their country...not his exact words, but that was the gist of it. That's gonna look real good to the "Me, Me, Me" types! He's aiming at the young people...screw us baby boomers.

[54anickel]

41. Nope, don't think so. Saw another post where the majority of sheeple

believe SS in in deep trouble. His "Blitz" is already working quite well. I just can't believe people are so stupid as to continue to believe this idiot's lies.

[chomskysright]

39. INNOCULATION is called for.....

Meichenbaum, a psychologist, created the concept associated with innoculation pertaining to 'expectations' re: 'procedures'. there are certain things that can be expected and the more we know the better we can innoculate ourselves....

[Nikepallas]

4. Please tell me Americans won't be that dumb to fall for the campaign.

I know I know look at the 1/2 that did vote for him.

[retread]

35. I wish I could tell you that! But I tend to fall on the fact-based

side of arguments so I won't!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. Important to get the facts out

Even AARP did a piece in their latest newspaper about the fact that SS is solvent. Apparently they are trying to get back in the good graces of their members, many of whom feel betrayed by the AARP's stance on prescription drugs.

[Stinky The Clown]

26. AARP ..... feh!

Every time I get some shit from them it goes in the trash. There needs to be an overhaul of their leadership or a replacement for them. They're really little more than an insurance company sales agency.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

37. Maybe so

but the fact they aren't following the Bush line this time means his SS plan is in trouble, imho.

[liberal N proud]

6. Like CNN and FAUX aren't enough?

Propaganda spreading like it is manure!

[caligirl]

7. *has been planning to dismantle SS for decades

Remember when I posted last week that Republicans have been crying wolf over Social Security for decades? Add George W. Bush to that list. The Texas Observer has Bush claiming back in 1978 when he ran for Congress that Social Security would go bust by 1988 if it were not partially privatized. More of that "fuzzy math". Bush's plan to privatize some of Social Security is a trojan horse- their intent is to destroy the most popular government program. They voted against it in the 1930's and have tried to put an end to it ever since. Their motive is simple, as Digby said:

Their motive for destroying social security is that it puts the lie to their contention that government can't be trusted to do any positive social good. They are wrong and social security proves it.

And it's time to start calling them on it.,

edit: recopied from bluebus.org Lizzie

[wicket]

10. thanks for reading my blog!

:D

[Chef]

8. The coming battle

If there is one issue that will decide the continued existence the Democratic Party, this is it. The party needs to come up with a plan to counter the lies of the administration and campaign like hell on it. There is no crisis. There are some things that need adjusting, but nothing that calls for such draconian measures. Bush will lie to the people just like Iraq, and this time he must be stopped. If we allow him to control the debate, we are doomed. Right now, there are just a handful of liberal Republicans that stand between us and ruin. Together, liberal republicans and Democrats, can stop * on this. If we fail, it will be time to rearrange the two party system along the lines of progressives and reactionaries.

[countryjake]

13. Crafty devil he is...

when he preached about how he wants America to become an "ownership society". It's crafted to get ordinary worried citizens to buy into the major corporations, under the lie that they'll "own" anything, just to keep them quiet when those same corporations continue to rape & pillage the rest of this country & the entire world! It's called "vested interest", except most will have such small shares there will be nothing even vaguely resembling a "controlling interest", & they can become the cheerleaders of Pfizer & Halliburton & other defilers, with spriggley pom-poms that lose a few strands every time the stock market drops. With a bit of luck, some may become "secure" in their old-age, but most, assuredly, will not.

[Jacobin]

9. And of course the "librul media" will

Have all the talking heads describe what a "great" plan it is and how necessary it is to "save SS" and how evil the few democrats are who oppose it and how brave MonkeyMan is to confront this huge issue, and and and and..........

[soupkitchen]

11. Are we going to let them invade Social Security?

Here's what the Democratic strategy regarding Social Security shoudl be. Introduce the phrase "Invading Social Security" As in, "do we really want the Bush administration to start invading the social security trust fund?"

Me thinks the American people don't want to hear about Bush invading anything right about now.

And secondly, the Democrats should harp upon how tying Social Security into Wall Street is going to demand greater regulation of Wall Street. After all, we have to protect ourselves from asset inflation. If a $100 stock that now sells for a Price to Earning ratio of 10 has its price inflated to $200 but its P/E reduced to 5 by the influx of capital into the stock market no real wealth, only asset inflation, has been created.

And maybe the Democrats should start talking about how in order to protect against asset inflation, p/e limits must be instituted.

The truth of the matter is Wall Street wants Social Security reform because they smell easy pickings. And the moment that it becomes clear to them that they have opened up Pandora's Box, that now the American people have an even deeper interest in regulating their activities they'll retreat to finagle another day.

And so my Democratic talking point would be this: We should not even think about invading the Social Security trust fund until we make sure that there are enough regulations on the ground to protect us from looting and godlessness of financial insurgents.

Again, over and over again, democrats everywhere doing the Karl Rove thing and repeating, repeating,reapeating, "It's not a good idea to invade social security,"

[snippy]

12. Does Social Security have WMD?

In addition to arguing that Social Security does not need to be drastically changed, democrats need to accuse Bush of keeping the details of his plan to change Social Security "secret." By accusing Bush of keeping the details of his plan "secret" the democrats put pressure on Bush and create an impression that the details are so terrible that Bush is afraid to reveal them to the public. Other phrases democrats should use are "hiding the details from the public," and "deceiving the public about the details." The primary strategy for democrats at this stage should be to put Bush on the defensive instead of allowing him to take the offensive position.

Democrats also should link the entire republican party to Bush's "secret" plan to change Social Security. If some republicans denounce Bush's plan even before the details are made public that might help defeat Bush's plan. At a minimum it should create a little discord in the GOP.

[ClintonTyree]

14. "Deliberately Vague"........................

if he doesn't present numbers, if he just wants carte blanche again, it won't stand a snowball's chance in hell of ever passing.
I don't think it has a snowball's chance anyway. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Right now the wheels are wobbling a bit on Social Security, but it's not broke. There are other ways to make it more stable, but completely overhauling it isn't one of them.

[underpants]

17. Article a few weeks ago said they are going to do it ala the case for war

just as Kerry's spokesman said.

The article was actually the White House BRAGGING about how this campaign would be much like the one during the run up to war and W's anit-terrorism plans. Seriously they think those were great because they got a "WIN!".

God help us all.

[Pirate Smile]

19. I've searched for that article both here and at the Washington Post but

I can't find it.

The article was on the second term, not just focused on Social Security.

I wanted to post what they said about modeling it after selling the lies for Iraq. We should use this against them.

How could anybody trust these a@#holes?

[underpants]

20. I have no idea

I think this article even points out that one of their big selling points is how much of a WINNER W is. (good grief)

The rabble love backing a WINNER and that covers any discussion of facts or issues --HA HA he beat you again!!!

Like that.

[ClintonTyree]

21. And look at where the Chimps numbers are now..............

he's bragging about his "mandate" and "political capital", but it appears the American people are tiring of him only 1 1/2 months post election. He'd better be damn careful or he's going to be the most ineffective 2nd term Resident, ever.

[underpants]

15. "likely keep details away from opponents"-How about the American people?

But others involved in White House discussions say the State of the Union speech will likely offer few new insights. The administration, long known for its secrecy, will likely keep details away from opponents, until a bill emerges possibly as late as April.

Good GOD they are so worried about their OPPONENTS..... oh wait we are their opponents.

[Massachusetts]

18. Troubling thing is

that the lemmings who need this program the most will be hypnotized. They are the ones who don't know how to research (read/discuss) issues like this, that will have a detremental impact to OUR society for years/generations to come if it passes. IMHO

[Stinky The Clown]

22. There.had.BETTER.be.Dem.spokespeople.out.there ......

..... debating this asshole long and loud. He wants another campaign style blitz? ..... we need to blitz his ass but fucking good!

[FreeStateDemocrat]

23. The moment of truth for the future of the Democratic Party.

Now is the time for the democratic leadership to show whether or not there is a future for our party. As usual we are behind and reacting instead of attacking the “Big Lie.” The repuke spin machine is based on “if you tell a lie enough times to people they will eventually believe it is true” and it has been proven again and again that the American people really are that dumb. If the only thing people hear is the “Big Lie” their opinions will be manipulated and hardened by this propaganda blitz. Remember “No one has every gone broke by underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” Rayguns spent 8 years in the White House by tricking the American public and he is now being deified using this same con. It will work in destroying Social Security unless someone does something to counteract it, the democratic leadership can at least get off their ass and try to stop this maniac right now!

[zann725]

24. And that $15 Mil. for the SS ad campaign comes from where?

Keeps using our tax money against us.

[Stinky The Clown]

27. SS = Dem Party Waterloo?

[VegasWolf]

29. Fool most people most of the time. Politics 101. n/t

[MasonJar]

30. I hope that I am not supposed to finance this horror. If he is

using taxpayers' money for this, then he should be immediately called on it by everyone we can round up.

[0007]

31. Isn't this all about making Wall Street brokers

richer and at the same time help big corporations out from a burden.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/12/22/bush_plans_january_blitz_for_social_security_reform/

Democrats, organized labor and senior citizen advocates say Bush's privatization scheme would undermine benefits while giving a huge government-subsidized windfall to a financial industry that helped bankroll his reelection.

The White House has come under fire over an estimated $1 trillion to $2 trillion privatization cost, with Republicans and Democrats concerned about a possible spike in borrowing that would erode the federal budget.

The Club for Growth, which raises money for Republican candidates, said its media campaign would try to marshal Republican support for Bush in Congress by targeting lawmakers who were not cooperating with the president.

Bush will also have help from the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security, a lobby group representing Wall Street and the manufacturing industry that was once headed by Charles Blahous, who is now a special assistant to the president and his point man on Social Security.

[Voltaire99]

32. Yes. It's a wealth-transfer mechanism favoring the elite.

As everyone from Nader to Krugman to Kinsley has pointed out for years, social security is fine for years to come.

But the stock market--and its tiny number of economic beneficiaries--cannot return to 1990s-level paroxysms of growth with finding new sheep to fleece.

Enter social security "reform"...

[EC]

33. I bet he won't mention

that their Social Security payout will be about the same, even when you open your own account...because any excess over like 13-15% will go to the government, the account owner won't be allowed to keep it, they get the same payout they would have now...this is how he expects to cut the deficit in half, with the profits from these accounts. Idiots........

[T Bone]

34. Bush Secret Scheme to Invade and Destroy Social Security

With no plans to deal with massive additions to the deficit it will mean.

There are good points throughout this thread for LTTE.

[mediaman007]

36. How about a rational discussion...

there must be more ideas about changing SS than his. I'm for change if its based on a dialogue.

This advertising campaign is crap and cowardly.

[mtnester]

38. Say it enought times and it must be true

These arguments need to be countered constantly! We should be coming right back with

"risky investments"
"gambling with retirement"
"las vegas retirement accounts"

REMEMBER - the house always has the advantage.

I have an idea to fix SS....STOP USING IT AS A SLUSH FUND DAMMIT!

[Robert Oak]

42. Gov't paying for this while slashing Pell? Crimes against humanity n/t

[wicket]

43. kick

:kick: