The attack on SS has increased, now it's going local

[EC]

In my local paper this morning - The Voice of the People section - was a letter talking up Social Security private accounts (of course they said personal accounts). I googgled the organization he signed with (at least he wasn't hiding his partisan connection) it is FreedomWorks. Here's the link to their site: http://www.cse.org/


Feb. 16. FreedomWorks members are on the move by the hundreds, attending eight White House events with President Bush over two weeks' time. TAKE ACTION MORE INFO
Nationwide, FreedomWorks Turns Out for PRAs
Feb 15 - Activists push for Social Security reform at every stop of President Bush’s tour By Matt Kibbe


I'm sure this is a coordinated campaigne, so watch your local papers for a letter from this organization...


http://www.cse.org/

[lancdem]

1. Josh Marshall has an entry on this

He reports on how Bush is giving interviews to local papers to drum up support for his phase-out plan.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com

[applegrove]

2. Don't be confused by the issues. 1) Stocks are a good way to

see money grow. 2)Gutting SS so that it reduces the security in numbers the people have and ends the 'nanny' state is a big deal. The first - adjunct accounts with tax breaks for them would be great. That is what Canada does. And it is a real progressive program.

The second is all about making more voters dependant on the stock market for their future so that they will not vote Democratic (like when democrats would allow for a slight recession to correct the market but Republicans want to keep making money so they pass the recession on the Democrats ... as is happening now). One of many ways SS gutting will work to help the Republicans structurally.

But keep the two notions separate. Because they are. Bill Clinton and every Western nation has done something with the first. Only England and Chili have touched the second.

[liveoaktx]

3. Do more than watch-write your own letter or take out an ad

Print out some flyers and take them to the senior citizen places, community centers, post office bulletin boards, laundromats, etc in your town. Bush is only ONE moron.

[moggie12]

4. Good catch!!!

Yet another front group in the GOP's propaganda machine:

I counted 28 staff members in this organization!! This is the blurb from the website on Matt Kibbe, the President and CEO of "Citizens for a Sound Economy":

"Prior to joining CSE, he served as Chief of Staff and House Budget Committee Associate for U.S. Representative Dan Miller(R-FL) from 1993 to 1996. Between 1990 and 1993, Mr. Kibbe was Director of Federal Budget Policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Prior to that, he served as Senior Economist for the Republican National Committee during Lee Atwater’s tenure as Chairman."

The FreedomWorks Foundation consists of the following people:

The Honorable Dick Armey (Co-Chairman)
The Honorable Jack Kemp (Co-Chairman)
The Honorable C. Boyden Gray (Co-Chairman)
Ted Abram
Ted Forstmann
Matt Kibbe
Richard J Stephenson


What I couldn't find on their website was who funds this group!!

[Historic NY]

5. Are they not the same group thats funding the tv ads too?

I've noticed in the past week several ads with * talking about saving SS.

[meow2u3]

6. Sounds like an astroturf campaign to me

eom

[moggie12]

7. Check out these pieces on "CSE/Freedom Works"

This ones talks about CSE's illegal activity during '02 elections and their big corporate donors:
http://www.stealthpacs.org/profile.cfm?org_id=162

Snip: "CSE claims on its Web site to represent "280,000 members" who "have been fighting for lower taxes, less government, and more freedom."15 From 2000 to 2002, however, 79 percent of the group's funding has come from an average of 56 donors per year who have each given at least $5,000.16 Though the group does not publicly disclose the names of its donors, a copy of CSE's 1998 budget obtained by Public Citizen revealed that CSE's big contributors that year included Philip Morris ($945,550), U.S. West Communications ($690,500) and Koch Industries ($374,000) as chronicled in this Public Citizen report"


This is Washington Times article announcing merger of CSE and another group to form "Freedom Works"
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040722-121145-9180r.htm

[EC]

9. Here's some more:

http://www.kochind.com/
Privately held Koch Industries, Inc. owns a diverse group of companies worldwide. These companies leverage capabilities such as Market Based Management® and operations, trading, transaction and public sector excellence to create long-term value for customers and society.
Active in many industry sectors, Koch companies supply communities with energy to heat and cool buildings, fibers for superior carpets and garments, materials to build longer-lasting roads, and financial services that promote growth. Other Koch companies offer industries raw materials and processing equipment. Koch trading companies help bring liquidity and efficiency to global commodity and securities markets. Koch companies also serve consumers’ needs for beef, diapers, fuels, fertilizer, and the building-block chemicals necessary to make items as diverse as plastic bottles and vehicle tires.
history: http://www.kochind.com/about/history.asp (worked in Soviet Union in the 1920's-1930's ?)




Date: 1/31/2005
Contact: Mary Beth Jarvis
316-828-3756
[e-mail]

WHITE HOUSE ADVISOR TO JOIN KOCH INDUSTRIES

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senior White House official Matt Schlapp will become Koch Industries, Inc.'s executive director of federal government affairs beginning Feb. 20.

Schlapp currently serves as deputy assistant to the President and political director. He previously worked as a regional political director on the President's 2000 campaign and joined the administration on its first day.

“I'm very proud to have worked for the President and to have served with the people in his administration, and I am thankful for the trust they have placed in me over the last four years,” said Schlapp. “I learned more than a decade ago, when I worked for Congressman Tiahrt, the value of honest public service. Koch Industries understands this service and has a strong commitment to principled action in the field of public policy. That's why I'm excited to join the Koch team.”

<snip>
A native of Wichita, Kan., Schlapp served until 2000 as chief of staff to U.S. Representative Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan). Schlapp received a bachelor's degree in history and government from the University of Notre Dame and a master of public administration degree from Wichita State University.

<snip>

About US WEST (NYSE: USW and UMG)
US WEST Communications Group provides a full range of telecommunications service - including wireline, wireless PCS and high-speed data networking - to more than 25 million customers in 14 western and midwestern states. The company is one of two major groups that make up U S WEST, a company in the connections business, helping customers share information, entertainment and communications services in local markets worldwide.



Name Change of US West Communications, Inc. to Qwest Corporation
http://www.blm.gov/nhp/efoia/or/fy2001/ib/b2001-119.htm

petitioning of FCC by US West: Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2342(1) and 47 U.S.C. § 402(a), U.S. West, Inc. petitions for review of a Federal Communication Commission ("FCC") order restricting the use and disclosure of and access to customer proprietary network information ("CPNI").
http://www.kscourts.org/ca10/cases/1999/08/98-9518.htm

[nodictators]

8. Sen. Boxer said that private accounts will be used to destroy SS

The key to the destruction of SS will be the huge, multi-trillion-dollar debt that will result from the transition.

Sen. Boxer is a former stock broker. She supports investing in the stock market, but NOT with a person's retirement account money.

Read her speech transcript:

http://boxer.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=232056

or,

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1598441