Social Security is Flawed but we are Not in a Crisis,
by Prentiss Smith
It is a great opportunity for any city to host the President of the United States. But as I watched Republicans fawn and genuflect over Mr. Bush when he came to Shreveport, I wondered how is it that one group of people can see one thing one way and another group of people can see it very differently? Whereas someone may see George Bush as a spoiled rich boy who has always had his way and who has never had to work for anything, others may see him as the best thing that has ever happened to this country. Whereas someone may see him as a chicken hawk of the highest order, others may see him as courageous and heroic. Whatever the case -- it seems as though the Republicans have become the stephord party -- a party of robots who jump when George Bush says jump and who believe what he tells them to believe. George Bush has made a lot of mistakes, but you want hear that from any Republican.
The group think mentality in the Republican party is scary, and it should cause all of us some alarm. Republicans are in control of every branch of the federal government, and the Congress has all but relinquished its responsibility as an independent branch of government from the executive branch. It is as though the executive and legislative branches of the federal government have merged into one super branch of government. Mr. Bush didn't veto one bill during his first four years in office. That is hard to believe. And now he wants to reform social security by taking a trillion dollars from the program in order to make it stronger. What kind of logic is that? But you will not hear one Republican dissent from the party line, not one. He is determined to have his way, because he is not used to being told no.
Mr. Bush will have a hard time convincing Americans that social security is in a crisis. Initially, that is what he said, but he had to change his tune as national polls showed that the more he talked about his plan to take money from the program to make the program stronger -the more the American people disliked it. The country clearly is not on board, and I don't think the country will ever go along with his attempt to create a legacy for himself by destroying the one government program that has worked better and more effectively than any other government program. He is now saying that the program has problems, and that is true. Most of the Republicans don t believe the program is in crisis, but Mr. Bush is going to drive it down our throats whether we like it or not. George knows best, and the rest of us be damned.
This is not Iraq, and the American people can probably be fooled once, or maybe even twice, but they are not buying this attempt to continue the fearmongering that has become a vital part of the way this administration works. Yes, it was good that the President came to Shreveport for a pep rally, but to call it a town hall meeting is completely disingenuous on the part of the media and on the part of the Republican party. A town meeting is an audience made up of divergent views, and there were no divergent views in this well orchestrated event of Bush supporters. A town meeting this was not. Mr. Bush is even running around the country telling black people that the program is unfair to them because blacks do not live as long as whites. He ought to be ashamed of himself. He is clearly using black people to sell a notion that is false on its very premise. Social security has done more to keep black people out of poverty than any other government program in this country. Social security has been there for dependent children and for disabled Americans. At the end of this push to get his way, Mr. Bush will have attempted to pit black retirees against white retirees and young Americans against elderly Americans.
The fact is that this whole debate is being conducted by rich white men, many of whom will never have to depend on social security for their retirement. Regular hardworking people are under assault from Republican politicians whose only interest is to reward their corporate interests who legally bribe them and call it lobbying. Middle class Americans are worse off today than they have been in a generation. And now they, the Republicans want to destroy the one program that has worked for millions of our parents and grandparents.
Social security does have problems, and those problems should be addressed in the context of making the program stronger for the future -- not weaker. Mr. Bush has made up his mind that he is going to have his way, and if it takes flying all over the country in Air Force One using the fearmongering tactics that he used to get the country into an illegitimate war in Iraq that has now cost the American people over 300 billion dollars. This country has now buried over 1,500 brave men and women, and now our veterans hospitals are overflowing with over 12,000 men and women who have been wounded or maimed for life. Thousands of Iraqi citizens have been killed in the name of freedom and liberty. I don t believe the American people will fall for another scheme that is going to continue to send this country toward financial ruin.
Mr. Bush is a bully, and he has been one all his life. But he is not going to be able to bully his way this time. Social Security is too valuable to too many people. He needs to park the big Airplane and have a reality check. This country is drowning in red ink, and Mr. Bush is still trying to give more tax breaks to his millionaire friends. It's ludicrous, and Americans had better wake up before George Bush is sent off to Crawford, Texas with a lifetime retirement, leaving the country in the worst financial condition that it has ever been. Yes, Social Security has some problems, but it is not in a crisis.
-- Prentiss Smith, March 2005
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