- On Monday, December 13, the US Senate will vote on a
bill that represents the destruction of Social Security. The measure reduces
the employee payroll tax by 33% (from 6.2 to 4.2%). Social Security is
in good shape right now but this reduction will starve the Trust Fund
and give the excuse to say - "Look, it's broke. We have to privatize
it."
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- Save Social Security - call or write your US Senators
and tell them to vote no on reducing funding for Social Security - period.
No compromises at all.
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- United States Senate Email/Web and Phone contact
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- http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
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- Please forward this with full permission of the author.
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- WASHINGTON, DC -- Bill Clinton showed up at the White
House for an "impromptu" press conference to discuss the president's
tax compromise with the Republicans. Clinton disclosed that "I make
a lot of money now" and, as a result, he would benefit from the program.
Then he endorsed the compromise calling it the best deal Obama could make.
Clinton was particularly high on the Social Security payroll tax reduction.
"According to all economic analysis, [this is] the single most effective
tax cut you can do to support economic activity. This will actually create
a fair number of jobs. I expect it to lower the unemployment rate and keep
us going." (Image)
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- Across town, United States Senator Bernie Sanders was
telling the simple truth that Obama and Clinton avoided. Reducing the Social
Security payroll tax from 6.2% to 4.2% as a one year tax holiday presumes
that the normal rates will be restored at the end of the one year period.
Who would restore those rates? The very same party that passed the Bush
ten year "temporary" income tax reductions. That same party,
the Republicans, now claims that ending the Bush temporary tax cuts represents
the greatest tax increase ever. Just as they forgot that those tax cuts
were temporary, the new Republican majority will forget the payroll cuts
were temporary. Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Mike Johanns (R-NE) agree
that ending the tax holiday will be portrayed as a tax increase.
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- Social Security has a dagger at its heart. In 2011, we
will have a president who won't even fight for Social Security when he
has a majority in Congress and a House of Representatives with a veto proof
majority that won't repeal any tax cut until Hell freezes over.
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- The citizens of this country have been betrayed by the
smoothest con artists around for the benefit of the ultra rich, with the
ultimate demise of Social Security assured by a rock solid majority of
Republican extremists waiting in the wings to occupy the 112th Congress.
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- Where's the opposition?
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- The nation's largest organization for seniors, AARP,
endorsed the Obama payroll tax cuts. The organization did this despite
the fact that the Obama compromise offers little in the way of benefits
for seniors.
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- The allegedly liberal publication, Mother Jones, just
ran a piece by Obama apologist Kevin Drum claiming that there's every reason
to believe that the payroll tax holiday will be over in just one year promised
in this deal. It's another example of tortured logic listing Republican
avarice and concluding they'll honor their word.
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- The self styled advocates for a FDR revival, New Deal
2.0, ran two opinion pieces supporting the Obama deal. One argued it was
that the president "probably did the best he could" while the
other actually praised the deal claiming that this was the "best deal"
that Obama could get. A third piece noted that Obama didn't know much about
FDR's Social Security proposal but left the president untouched on the
Trojan Horse payroll tax reduction. What would FDR do? Capitulate and equivocate.
Hardly.
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- The largest organization representing seniors, 40 million
strong, just caved. They and the president got some cover by two organizations
that advertise as being of the left who also caved.
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- That leaves Senator Sanders, those who will support him
for real filibuster, focused advocates for the program, and citizens of
the United States. The House Democratic Caucus rejected Obama's proposal
to some fanfare. But their objections were on how the bill was rolled out
and specifics like a $5 million threshold for any estate tax.
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- Addictions 101
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- Two key features of the bipartisan political establishment
are an addiction to stealing money from the people for their patrons, the
corporate and ultra rich elite, and total denial that taking the peoples'
money to satisfy this relentless craving is both harmful and morally unacceptable.
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- The Money Party is at the peak of its craving for more
money earned their old fashioned way, through expropriation from the masses.
They will not be denied. They are Hell bent on making their once false
prophesies that Social Security is bankrupt into a living reality.
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- We are nothing to them.
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- First published at the The Agonist
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