I added a new "Republican Con of the Week" to my blog.

[Eric J in MN]

http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft_essay_2005_01_02_republican_con_of_the_week_groups_with_fake_names_support_bush_social_security_plan.asp

Republican Con of the Week: The Groups Which Will Promote Bush's Plan to Steal-Our-Social-Security Have Misleading Names


Some of the information below is from the Washington Post article,"A Big Push On Social Security: Private Accounts Are Bush Priority" by Jim VandeHei, January 1, 2005. Quotes are from that article. Neutral statements about how Bush and the supporters of his Social Security plan will campaign for it are from that article. Non-neutral statements about the Bush plan and its promotion are my own.

"Progress for America."

What a nice name for an organization. Should I join, it sounds progressive?

No, I won't join "Progress for America,". because the name is a scam.

Progress for America, an independent conservative group that backed Bush in the campaign, has set aside about $9 million to support the president's Social Security plan as well as other White House domestic priorities in the new year, said spokesman Brian McCabe. The group is asking its donors for much more, he said.

Another pro-Bush group with a bogus name is "Alliance for Worker Retirement Security."
It's a corporate group, not a workers' group as the name misleadingly suggests.

Corporations will do much of their work through a group called the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security, which operates out of the National Association of Manufacturers headquarters here and was once headed by Blahous. Derrick A. Max, executive director of the alliance, said the group will probably run its own ads and help fund other efforts. "The beginning stage will be focusing on the crisis, the need to act and the cost of delay," Max said.

In other words, prepare for fear-mongering from groups with phony names.

There is no Social Security crisis.

This is a sham from anti-social spending groups who want to cut Social Security benefits using the distraction of private accounts, and Wall St. groups who want to get their hands on our Social Security money.

These groups are a collection of con-men. You're better off playing Three Card Monte then believing what they say. The amount of money you stand to lose at Three Card Monte is a lot less.

Crooked card dealers know how to make you take your eye off the real action.

Privatization of Social Security is similar. Bush's con-men will say, "wouldn't you like to have your own money in your own account" as they plan to cut your benefits by 40%.