The Politics of Social Security
Some thoughts I posted over at Blogs for Bush today.
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Because that is the sacrament in the Church of the Poisoned Mind. Class warfare is to libs what taking Communion is to Christians. It's a pillar of their godless faith.
Asking Dems to "come to the table" on Social Security reform without socking it to the wealthy would be like asking Billy Graham to co-headline a crusade with Marilyn Manson. It just doesn't fit.
That's the problem with the President's approach to SS reform. After four-plus years in D.C. he's still welded to the idea that by being "reasonable" and "conciliatory" he can elicit recuprocity from the DisLoyal Opposition. I had thought that after the way they whizzed in his face for nearly two solid years that he'd have been disabused of this delusionary notion, but apparently not. The "New Tone" will never die with this man, and as much as he managed to accomplish in his first term despite it, it's really hampering him now, and nowhere more than on Social Security reform.
If the President wants to get done what needs to get done, "reasonableness" and "conciliation" need to give way to "ruthlessness" and "confrontation."
And there needs to be a formal plan. Otherwise, the "third rail of politics" is going to revive with a vengeance.
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Reality check: The Dems are never "coming to the table." They can't. It would be ideological suicide. Social Security is the crown jewel of the welfare state. Marketize that and the party of the New Deal has little, if anything, left to defend.
Our choice is whether we want to force them to commit political suicide instead by crafting personal account reform legislation (i.e. Ryan-Sununu) and forcing them to either let it pass or filibuster it.
The latter would be a virtual certainty. And that would be the path to another smashing victory in November 2006.
Dubya has done a fine job of selling the need for reform. The next step is to propose a formal plan, and give the extreme media something to prattle about other than how reform is "sinking."
Otherwise, that prattle will become prophecy fulfilled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Does this plan offer any other solution than taking it out on the rich? Why punish the rich? becuase they worked hard? Becuase they're american dream is being fufilled?
Because that is the sacrament in the Church of the Poisoned Mind. Class warfare is to libs what taking Communion is to Christians. It's a pillar of their godless faith.
Asking Dems to "come to the table" on Social Security reform without socking it to the wealthy would be like asking Billy Graham to co-headline a crusade with Marilyn Manson. It just doesn't fit.
That's the problem with the President's approach to SS reform. After four-plus years in D.C. he's still welded to the idea that by being "reasonable" and "conciliatory" he can elicit recuprocity from the DisLoyal Opposition. I had thought that after the way they whizzed in his face for nearly two solid years that he'd have been disabused of this delusionary notion, but apparently not. The "New Tone" will never die with this man, and as much as he managed to accomplish in his first term despite it, it's really hampering him now, and nowhere more than on Social Security reform.
If the President wants to get done what needs to get done, "reasonableness" and "conciliation" need to give way to "ruthlessness" and "confrontation."
And there needs to be a formal plan. Otherwise, the "third rail of politics" is going to revive with a vengeance.
~~~~~~~~~~
Reality check: The Dems are never "coming to the table." They can't. It would be ideological suicide. Social Security is the crown jewel of the welfare state. Marketize that and the party of the New Deal has little, if anything, left to defend.
Our choice is whether we want to force them to commit political suicide instead by crafting personal account reform legislation (i.e. Ryan-Sununu) and forcing them to either let it pass or filibuster it.
The latter would be a virtual certainty. And that would be the path to another smashing victory in November 2006.
Dubya has done a fine job of selling the need for reform. The next step is to propose a formal plan, and give the extreme media something to prattle about other than how reform is "sinking."
Otherwise, that prattle will become prophecy fulfilled.
posted by JASmius at 10:24 PM
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