They want to destroy Social Security for what reason(s)?

[IDemo]

1) To eliminate the employer contributions.
2) To enact mandatory 401k's.
3) To get rid of the last vestige of FDR.
4) To piss off the Left.

I understand that weakening or destroying Soc. Sec. is hardly a hidden agenda for the Randian Right, but I'm not 100% on what their ultimate motives are. It's obvious that the One Percent would love to avoid contributing to worker's SS funds, but do they also expect citizens to show up on Wall Street to offer their bag of coins at the teller cage? Or do they simply enjoy the prospect of pissing on FDR's grave and angering liberals?

[reformist2]

1. The 1%-ers don't want to pay back the $3 trillion they owe the Soc Sec trust fund!

[KansDem]

2. I'd go with no. 2

It's all about the hoarding of wealth. One Percenters want more...always more...

Johnny Rocco is their idol...

[LisaLynne]

3. I think on one level, yes the very concept is completely abhorrent to them.

They want to keep that money - the corporations and then their working thralls - because they think they can do better with it, however at the same time, I think they don't want to see people have a safety net in old age (or at any other time) because in their delusional minds, it's a moral failing if you need any sort of help, which we could argue SS is or is not. And a person who has failed morally deserves to weep and gnash their teeth. I think they, and here I'm talking mostly about the working thralls of the conservative movement, want to believe that they will be well-off in their old age and that will be a testament to how smart they are and how morally good they are. They don't want to see people they view as inferior (racial minorities, the poor, etc, etc, etc) to have anything at the end of their lives because they are morally failed people and don't deserve it. If they are taken care of, then what is the point of being a "good" person?

The corporations, OTOH, probably just want a mass of old desperate people to turn into Soylent Green or something.

[truebluegreen]

4. I'm going with Reply #1,

first, followed by privatization, which would mean massive fees and profits for Wall Street, AND destroying the whole concept of the New Deal. Win, win, win...

[reformist2]

10. Yep. The gang on Wall Street would love to siphon off 2% a year in "management fees".

[TheMastersNemesis]

5. Corporation Financial Institutions Charge Keep As Much As 20% Of Your Monthly 401K Check

Fees to manage your money can eat up as much as 20% as you draw you money out of your 401K. Then you get to pay your taxes on that. The fees are well hidden in the investment packages presented by the banking system.

You no longer get any interest on savings. You might get 1/4% if you are lucky. Most investment advisers take 1% to 5% of your investment annually to manage your money. And they get it even if you lose money for the year.

That is why the 401k is such a scam.

[kairos12]

6. Provides a Limitless Supply of Elderly Workers Who Would Have...

no option but to work for poverty wages in order to buy food. That elderly work force would force young workers to accept dog food wages in order to stay in the work force. Bottom line--more for the one percent. Dog food for everybody else.

[emulatorloo]

8. Pretty much my view too - they want a big pool of serfs.

[flamingdem]

7. The GOP is just an authorized Mafia nt

[reteachinwi]

9. Sociopathic hoarders

is what Thom Hartmann calls them. They don't need the little bit of money we have left, it's just that there little left to steal and the politicians that can do the heist for them are in place and bought off.

[flamingdem]

12. They've helped us become a country that doesn't produce much

so all that's left to do is pirate what the other guy has!

[thelordofhell]

11. Because it will make it easier to default on the debt

SS is the largest holder of US debt........

[Odin2005]

13. Wall Street wants the money.

[raouldukelives]

14. Whatever Wall St wants, Wall St gets.

Until people stop feeding it. Don't feed the bull! It's eating us all, alive.

[reformist2]

19. They haven't got their hands on this, so far! :)

[MyshkinCommaPrince]

15. I've seen many supposed explanations...

Wall Street wants to get its hands on the money. Money has been borrowed from SS to pay for other things and now they want to avoid paying back what they owe. Without SS, more people would have to compete longer in the job market, helping drive down wages. Persons receiving SS or any government assistance "aren't adding any value to the economy" and need to be kicked off to force them to work or innovate or something. Maybe all of these are their true motivations, or none of them. It may be merely hate and greed, with no more rational explanation behind it.

[MrSlayer]

16. They want that money. Period.

They aren't in this to piss off the left or anything like that. They're in it to steal. They want the SS money, they want the Medicare money, the want that five billion a year the post office generates. It's all about theft.

[kentuck]

17. Because we've always been at war with Eastasia....

They have never supported SS.

[libtodeath]

18. It is administered by the government and these folks want to be

make everyone think government is bad and rule by the rich is good.