What is the purpose behind the GOP calling Social Security an "entitlement"?

[ColbertWatcher]

Yes, I understand it has historically been called an "entitlement," but the way their minions in the media say it, it sounds like a negative thing.

Is that why they use that particular word? Is there a better way to refer to the money one has paid into over a lifetime of work?

[elocs]

1. I have a retired couple who are friends and bleed Republican

and when I told them that the GOP referred to SS as an entitlement they were not happy about it. To them, "entitlement" means "welfare" and they said, "we put our money in for that!"

[Ikonoklast]

18. If they have been retired a while, they will get more than they ever put in.

That money they are spending every month comes from those that are currently employed. Unless they were taxed at the highest rate since they started working, and die soon, they will get back more than they ever paid in.

The very definition of welfare, money for nothing.

[elocs]

19. I've told them that too.

Also, most welfare mothers are on average only on welfare for a few years and they most likely also become taxpayers. I have a friend who when I met her 17 years ago had 2 kids and was on welfare. She went to a tech school to become an histologist and is now making over $60,000. Over the years she has certainly repaid in taxes many times over what she collected in welfare. The trouble with mothers on welfare is that there seems to be millions of immaculate conceptions.

[terisan]

27. And Many Die Before Collecting Anything. nt

[Ikonoklast]

28. The dead have always subsidized the living in S.S.

But, those that die with underage dependents and a spouse will have a family that gets the benefits that the deceased won't receive.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

2. My guess

is that it has a "welfare-ish" sound to it- like people don't deserve it or work for it (which is crazy b/c they HAVE to pay into it in order to get it when they retire). The only other reasons people get Social Security are because they become disabled or have been deprived of a parent due to an untimely death but it's not like people are just getting Social Security for no legitimate reason whatsoever- Anybody who has applied for Social Security Disability/SSI can you THAT!

[pacalo]

3. These same people thought it was a good idea to do away with our SS contributions

& put them in the stock market.

It's all about (lack of) common sense. The corporate propagandists coin a phrase to turn people against their own interests, the sheeple devour it & run with it without a thought. You said it: the money that we've saved for retirement has been reduced to negativity, perhaps because it was the idea of a great Democratic president.

Maybe the word "social" gets under their skin. What negativity could they scrounge up if the term were changed to "retirement security"?

[ColbertWatcher]

10. "to turn people against their own interests" Good observation. Thank you. n/t

[Metta]

4. Oh, it's just them trying to demonize it. Fear and smear tactics since they have no positive plans,

As usual.

[gordianot]

5. Social Security has been a throne in Republican hide side since day one.

The famous third rail which eventually fries them.

[Occam Bandage]

6. It is an entitlement. That is the appropriate word. Republicans love to make

accurate words sound dirty; I don't think the correct response is to simply cede that word and in doing so give them another bludgeon to use against us.

[MrCoffee]

7. Total agreement here.

Just because Republicans can make anything sound dirty doesn't mean we should let them.

[ColbertWatcher]

17. How can we stop them when they control the media? n/t

[we can do it]

8. So They Can Eliminate It?

[shari]

9. It's insurance

We pay our premiums and when we qualify we file our claim. Not that different than health or auto insurance. Maybe they shouldn't file a claim on their auto insurance next time they have a fender-bender.

[EFerrari]

11. They're trying to rebrand "entitlement" to make it sound as if it isn't our money in the first place

and, they've pretty much succeeded. Even most Democrats use the word in the same way.

[pacalo]

12. There you go -- that's a big part of it. It's amazing how stupid some people can be to buy it.

[ColbertWatcher]

13. Thank you. It was right there in front of my face: rebranding.

Rebranding: it's spin rebranded!

[county worker]

14. It has been placed in the minds of freeper types that an entitlement

is the taking of someone's hard earned money and giving it to someone who didn't earn it. Once they have established that as the definition, they can use it to paint anything they don't like an entitlement and they have the freeper types on their side. Problem is the freeps are too stupid to see the ruse. Thus they vote against their own interests.

[EFerrari]

16. I guess freepers have never read their pay check stubs.

[MineralMan]

15. Freaking buttheads....

They've managed to rebrand a lot of things, from the name of the Democratic Party to Social Security. It's one of their insidious strategies to demonize anything they want to demonize.

The worst part of it is that the media often take up the rebranded term and use it until it becomes the new term.

We need very badly to catch these things and reverse them before they become the aspirin of the day. Bayer was not successful in protecting its trade name, but I hope we can save some of ours.

[ColbertWatcher]

20. Don't forget the first thing they "rebranded:" liberal. n/t

[MineralMan]

21. Yeah. And we just bought it, overall.

Not me. If anyone asks, I tell them straight out that am a liberal and that I'm proud of it.


"What!?" They say.

Then I say something like this:

Everyone loves the word liberal. They like restaurants which offer liberal servings. They want liberal terms on their loans and liberal interest rates on their savings. They like their employer to allow liberal discretionary time and liberal vacation periods, along with liberal sick leave provisions. Liberal discounts are good at the mall, too. We like stores with liberal return polices on their merchandise, too. Heck, liberal is a great word.


So what's not to like? I'm a liberal, aren't I?

[ColbertWatcher]

23. ...

... Please see selection C (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4882263&mesg_id=4882263 )

"We will not apologize for our way of life nor will we waver in its defense."

I am a liberal too and refuse to apologize for being one or back down when the GOPers try to demonize me or my ideals.

[Cleita]

22. It makes it sound like welfare instead of a retirement plan everyone

pays into until they retire.

[Still Sensible]

24. Entitlements... a word republicans use to denegrate

any and all instances where the government is distributing money directly to or on behalf of people. The word, as used by the GOP, implies that the people benefitting from the money have not earned it... that they are getting it only because the government has decided they are entitled to.

Of course, the Social Security ship has already sailed on the GOP, as has for the most part Medicare. Those two programs are almost assumed to be untouchable, even by the most anti-FDR anti-LBJ right wingers.

Naturally the GOP uses the word in its most derogatory fashion when the subject is welfare, or AFDC, or SCHIP, or food stamps and the like.

In fairness, some libertarian-type thinkers simply have a philosophical problem with the concept of "entitlements," but generally speaking most GOP that use this word are just pricks.

[tom_paine]

25. Just the usual Bushiganda suing Orwellian Templates for Psycholinguistic Control.

It works, too.

For 30 years the Democrats didn't deign to take note of it, let alone combat it or build a counterforce to it.

Now the insanity is Conventional Wisdom, set in cement.

As Orwell prophsied, the Bushies are working to literally exicse the words from the English language to express dissent.

The Final Solutions to the Liberal problem will take time, though, for our Bushie Masters.

[dysfunctional press]

26. i put the money in, so i AM entitlted to the monthly payments.

so? :shrug:

[MineralMan]

29. Like many of their "rebrandings" they're trying to

make "entitlement" a dirty word, the way they tried to do with "liberal."

Filthy bastards.

The better way to refer to social security is as "Social Security."