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Social Security privatization is back. After being thoroughly defeated when President Bush proposed it, it is being revived by Republicans, who are said to be poised to take over at least one house of the Congress in November. According to TPM,
House Minority Leader John Boehner won’t say if the Republican Party will again try to privatize Social Security, even as the GOP pushes fiscal responsibility as a major issue in their quest to win back control of Congress.
When the Washington Post’s Dan Balz asked Boehner (R-OH) if the failed 2005 Social Security privatization plan would resurface this year, the Republican leader twice answered, “I have no idea.”
In February, Representatives Paul Ryan (R-WI), the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, and Devin Nunes (R-CA) introduced “A Roadmap to America’s Future” which advocates the privatization of Social Security. Several Republican candidates, like Rand Paul, have advocated privatizing or eliminating Social Security.
Privatization is taking something that is public and handing it to private interests. Instead of being managed democratically, accountably and transparently by the public for benefit of the many, it is instead managed for the benefit of a few. Medicare and the “public option” vs private insurance are examples. School privatization is a dream of the right.
Social Security privatization is an ongoing campaign by conservatives, backed by Wall Street. In a 1983 Cato Institute Journal document, “Achieving a Leninist Strategy” by Stuart Butler of Cato and Peter Germanis of Heritage lays it out for us. The document is still available at Cato, and select quotes are available at Plotting Privatization? from Z Magazine. It is worth reading the entire document (in particular the section “Weakening the Opposition”) to understand completely the strategy that has been unfolding in the years since, but the following quotes give you an idea:
“Lenin recognized that fundamental change is contingent upon … its success in isolating and weakening its opponents. … we would do well to draw a few lessons from the Leninist strategy.”
” construct … a coalition that will … reap benefits from the IRA-based private system … but also the banks, insurance companies, and other institutions that will gain from providing such plans to the public.”
“The first element consists of a campaign to achieve small legislative changes that embellish the present IRA system, making it in practice a small-scale private Social Security system.
“The second main element … involves what one might crudely call guerrilla warfare against both the current Social Security system and the coalition that supports it.”
“The banking industry and other business groups that can benefit from expanded IRAs …” “… the strategy must be to propose moving to a private Social Security system in such a way as to … neutralize … the coalition that supports the existing system.”
“The next Social Security crisis may be further away than many people believe. … it could be many years before the conditions are such that a radical reform of Social Security is possible. But then, as Lenin well knew, to be a successful revolutionary, one must also be patient and consistently plan for real reform.”
Remember this when you hear that “Social Security is going broke” or “contributes to the deficit” or “is a Ponzi scheme.” These are only manufactured propaganda points, repeated and repeated in an ongoing attempt to drive the idea into “conventional wisdom,” something that “everyone knows” but is not actually true.
Take a look at Social Security Works to learn more about the fight to keep Social Security for the American People, and subscribe to their mailing list to receive ongoing information as the fight unfolds — again.
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The proper response to Paul Ryan and all others pushing “personal accounts”:
“Show us how this will work. Show us an analysis comparable in rigor to that done annually for the existing Social Security system. You want American workers to trust in your plan for their retirement security. Show us that your plan will provide retirement security. (You may be yourself convinced by the constant barrage of right-wing propaganda. Maybe that works for you but for those who want to be certain of retirement security you must provide something far beyond rank propaganda.)
“Not claims. Not excuses for why you cannot. This matters. We don’t want feeble assurances that it might work, might do better. We know that if it might do better it might also do worse, and worse is very bad for us and also very likely. Show us. If you cannot show us we may assume you are insincere in any claims you make to care about providing for our retirement – you ought to have been ready to show us before you began to advocate. So far you haven’t done it.”
Actually we already have personal accounts. We have IRAs, 401Ks and savings accounts. And we can get brokerage accounts, etc.
Yes, we do. We have seen how those worked recently.
to privatize social security, will require a lot of help from the
the so call liberal media that is owned by rich republicans
Obama and Rahm are betting on their friends the republicans to win the house, this will give republicans control of the House, Senate, and White House.
Obama knows the only issue in the USA is JOBS, he knew this in 2008 and he knows it now in 2010, he just ignores it, so he can carry out his master wishes.
Obama is a one term president who mission was to hurt the progressive movement.
I believe “privatization” of everything is their ultimate goal. By “they” I mean the fascists that are determined to control America. The coup failed in the 30′s but by stealth the same people (bankers, brokers, financiers, de-regulators et al)are beginning to succeed. Private prisons, charter schools, private this, private that. jedi, I hope you are wrong about Obama. My sense is that he’s in it, but doesn’t like it. Sigh!!