Screwing with Social Security is political suicide!

[CLANG]

I'm 55 and hope to live to 65 so I might retire for a few years before I take my final nap.

My mom and dad depend on social security. I would REALLY worry about my kids if they wouldn't have access one day to social security.

I'm sure I'm not alone in these feelings. If the powers that be think they are only messing with some tired old fogies that don't give a hoot, they have a real shock coming to them.

Don't mess with Social Security you dumb asses! If they really want to see people wake up, then fuck with our Social Security! The only responsible course is to remove the cap on social security taxes.

And to think this would happen with a democratic congress and PRESIDENT!! :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[YOY]

1. So is insulting a good percentage of the people who help got you elected...

But who's counting?

[daleanime]

2. And while we at it....

Lets roll back those earlier cuts.:grr:

[InfinityGrain]

3. Ok!

Ok!

[Fumesucker]

4. We need to keep the government out of our Social Security..

:crazy:

[bvar22]

5. Good!...But WHERE are you going to go...

..when the "Centrist" Democrats are successful at cutting Social Security?

They won't be voting to "Cut Social Security".
They WILL be voting for a "Comprehensive Reform Package" that "Saves our Children from a Crushing Deficit".
Unfortunately, this "package" WILL contain cuts to Social Security.
Are you going to let "The Perfect be the Enemy of The Good"?

Besides, they "will fix it later."

This will be "Historic" Reform.

Are you going to "Help the Republicans"?

Think I'm kidding?
Check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wHr3nMG6Y4

All thats left is for the Kabuki Theater to play out.
Here is the script:

1) Saturate the Media with the meme that something MUST be done to "Reduce the Deficit" or there will be a catastrophe, and strongly imply that Social Security is one of the BIG causes for the deficit.

2)Remove Pentagon/Military Spending from any discussion of cuts,
and insist that anyone who even talks about cuts to Military Spending are crazy, drug addled extremists.

3)Give all the "Centrist Democrats" involved plenty of time to get out public statements that they support Social Security, and would never vote to reduce benefits.

4)Form a "Independent Secret Commission" to design a "Comprehensive Package" of ways to Reduce the Deficit. This package will be lengthy and complicated, and it WILL contain reductions to Social Security benefits. The package will also contain a few crumbs that ARE good for the economy. These crumbs will be minor in scale compared to the structural changes to Social Security.

The "Commission Recommendations" will also contain some scam that opens the door for Wall Street to have access to Social Security funds. For cover, the package will also contain some easily avoidable "regulations" that will appear to restrict how Wall Street can use the Social Security Funds, but these "regulations" are NOT there to actually REGULATE; they are there to provide cover.


5)The Marketing and Message Control will be Up and Running when the contents of the package is revealed. The Media will be saturated with pieces that highlight and overemphasize the few good crumbs, and catastrophizing the effects of not passing "The Comprehensive Package".
(SEE: TARP)


6)The Progressive Caucus opposition WILL be marginalized (again), and the full force of the White House, the DLC, DNC, and their Corporate Marketing & Messaging apparatus will be used to brand any "Democratic" opposition as "traitors", "with the Republicans", "against Wall Street Regulation", "against the American People", "against Saving Social Security" or "Opposed to Saving our Children".
There will be a saturation of anecdotal testimony highlighting how certain crumbs will "Save our Family", therefore the whole package MUST pass.
The Mighty Wurlitzer will be turned UP to FULL BLAST.
Any and ALL opposition from The Left WILL be Shouted Down and Demonized.
(SEE: HCR)

7)The Republican Party will play their assigned part in the Kabuki, and oppose the whole thing as "Big Government Takeover". It doesn't matter that their position makes no sense. It only matters that they oppose it so the illusion of a difference is maintained.

8)The "Commission Recommendations" will be brought to Congress to be voted on as a "complete comprehensive package", Up or Down vote, during the panic immediately following the Democratic Losses in November 2010.
No honest debate will be allowed.
No discussion of amending the package or deleting some elements will be allowed.
Democrats will NOT be "voting to cut Social Security".
They will be voting FOR "Saving the Economy", or "Protecting our Children (from the deficit)".

9) The Complete Comprehensive Package of Commission Recommendations WILL pass with a Party Line vote, or one or two Republican defectors if necessary to maintain the illusion of a Hard Fight.
No Democrat will have to admit that they voted to Cut Social Security.
Instead, they voted FOR a Reform Package that Saved the Economy.


10) The politicians will flock to the cameras with statements like this:

"I am on record as supporting Social Security, and of course I would have liked to NOT cut benefits, but we had to do something."

"This is "historic" reform legislation, look at all the good (crumbs) we got!"

"We couldn't let the Perfect be the Enemy of the Good."

"This is the best we could do under the circumstances because we didn't have the votes.

"This is a Step Forward."

"Today, we saved our children from a crushing deficit."

"We needed to get something done NOW. We will Fix it Later.

Sound familiar?
It should.

If you think I'm a little over the top in my assessment,
take a look at Chris Van Hollen's (weasel, MD) performance when asked a direct question on cutting Social Security:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wHr3nMG6Y4

Again,
No Democrat will be voting to "Cut Social Security".
They WILL be voting FOR "Comprehensive Historic Reform that Saves our Children."

THAT is WHY this diabolical Commission and "The Comprehensive Package" is so necessary.


They are coming.
"By their works you will know them."

What are they going to do?
Vote for a Republican?
Hahahahahahahahahaha!

[CLANG]

6. If it happens I'll be supporting a primary challenge to Obama.

If there is no primary challenge, or if there is and Obama wins, I will just stay home. NOBODY fucks with SS and gets my vote! It will just mean that the rethuglicans haven't destroyed America enough for real change to happen. Most likely thing would get bloody.

[bvar22]

7. BTW: K&R

for Righteous Outrage.

Eternal Vigilance...

After the Fact will be too late.
Like HCR, we will have to live with it for a long time.
There won't be any "fixing it later."

[CLANG]

8. Thank you, bvar22

I take that as a high compliment coming from you. At least they are playing it a bit smarter than health care. They haven't announced "eliminating or raising the cap is off the table"!!

[NorthCarolina]

11. +1 Billion. Spot on summation. eom

[nightrain]

14. bvar, you are sooo to the point!

[Enthusiast]

19. You're good, bvar22.

I believe you have it EXACTLY right. I would be shocked if this didn't play out just as you've outlined. We observed exactly such subterfuge during the HCR debate.

Very good post!

[txlibdem]

22. It's like you read the script off Rahm's desk

:kick:

[chill_wind]

23. If you haven't made that an OP of its own, you really should, bvar.

Totally tells it like it is.

[bvar22]

25. I posted it as an OP on Aug 18th,

the day after Chris Van Hollen gave us the Preview of what is coming.
IIRC, it got over 100 recs.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=8969793

AFIC, this is Public Domain material, and I would be gratified to see it gain as wide an exposure as possible.

Please feel free to copy and post this anywhere you please.
Attribution is not necessary.
I wouldn't even be bothered if you wish to claim it.
Feel free to make any editorial changes or additions, or use any part of it you wish in any thread or OP of your choosing at any site you wish.


I'm upgrading it and posting it to pertinent threads when applicable, and may repost it as an OP next week if someone else doesn't do it first.

I will be more than happy to eat my words if something like this does NOT happen, but History and Democratic Party Performance over the last 20 years are MY sources.

--bvar22
A mainstream FDR Democrat,
now a member of the "Fucking Retard" wing of the Democratic Party

[chill_wind]

26. Thanks bvar.

I come and go and I missed it. Very happy to catch it here. The truth is the truth.

[catchoftheday]

27. thanks for the post

[CLANG]

9. Mods- I posted this in the wrong forum - please move to GD.

[madrchsod]

10. we went through the 60`s and we do know how to raise hell

cut our money(what little there is of it)and there will be hell to pay....

[Doctor_J]

13. You mean like all of the hell we've raised over the Health Insurance giveaway?

Gay marriage? DADT? Torture & rendition? Energy solutions? Job creation?

WTF are you talking about?

[Doctor_J]

12. The prez has pretty much given away his 2nd term anyway

There is not a single group that voted for him that he hasn't pissed all over for the last 20 months. So wrt suicide, he's already taken care of that.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Grinchie]

17. I agree with you.. Obama will be wishing for the road not taken

Actually, he already is wishing and is in panic mode, having sold his soul to the devil.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Enthusiast]

18. My father died at 64 years old,

he was still working at the time. He worked like a dog his entire life. Then he died without collecting one cent of social security. Raising the retirement age is not a viable solution. There are many more humane solutions than raising the retirement age.

[NorthCarolina]

20. Could be why some high profile Dems like Bayh and Dodd are retiring

since they know their votes in the affirmative on the Debt Commission recommendations to cut Social Security will herald the end of their Senate careers.

[Fire1]

21. "Remove the cap." Absolutely. n/t

[chill_wind]

24. K & R. n/t

[midnight]

28. K&R.