The Koch brothers assault on Social Security

[kenfrequed]

No new news here. But we really have to take this issue to the people and away from the damned professional pundits and noisy think tanks that are advocating for raising the retirement age.

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Koch Bros. just

regurgitating Fred Koch's John Brich Society main talking points.

[kenfrequed]

2. Too true.

I have been trying to explain to the Republicans I know that their party was just gradually taken over by the JBS movement that even conservative Republicans from the 50's and 60's openly scorned and derided. They just don't seem to get it.

[Enthusiast]

7. Exactly. But! The John Birch Society didn't have the entire media under their control.

I have never heard a TV pundit say a single positive thing about Social Security unless it was coming from the mouth of Bernie Sanders. Every channel you turn on tells you that we must raise the retirement age or somehow cut Social Security.

[fasttense]

11. To obtain your full Social Security you have to be 70 years old. How much older do the Koch want?

You can get early retirement in your 60s but you lose a good chunk of your retirement amount. So what age do they want to raise it to? Is 80 old enough for those billionaires like Pete Peterson? How about 85? Do I hear 90? 95? Is 100 old enough for them? How about if you die then Pete Peterson and the Koch Brothers will allow you to obtain your Social Security that you paid for twice over. But then your dead and you don't get it anyway. And that is what they really want.

[Wellstone ruled]

12. When FDR proposed what was at that time Social Security,

the Republicans and the Birchers went nuts. Remember this,there is only one large pool of money(U.S.Treasuries,Government Bonds and other script)left untouched by Wall Street. Most of our National Debt is in this pool,despite what the Pundits tell you,no we don't our asses to the Chinese,the Social Security Trust carries most of our Countries Debt. All the Bullshit about privatizing or allowing opt out of Social Security came from the Chicago School of Economics and the Heritage Foundation. The Game Plan of the Republican Party has been the undoing of every FDR program because these programs benefit more Democratic Voters than their white Republican constituents. All of this garbage about means testing and entitlement program negative stories were shifted into high gear after LBJ and the voting rights act. We older folks recall all of the hoopla coming from the M$M how this would be the end of America.

[fasttense]

14. I have noticed that there is one FDR program the uber rich and GOP don't try to stop

SGLIC. The insurance program that protects their money.

[Wellstone ruled]

16. Yup!!

You nailed it.

[swilton]

3. The myth supporting raising the retirement age

is that people are living longer - this is not true WHO (world health organization) and the CIA Factbook show that life expectancy in the US is going down whereas other countries of the industrialized world are going up.

Furthermore, according to Richard Wolff, in a tight job market such as the US when unemployment is high, LOWERING the retirement age and letting elder people leave the work force is beneficial for the entry of younger workers to enter

[kenfrequed]

4. Yup

And Robert Reich supplies the real solution to improving Social security by doing what most progressives have been saying for decades. Smash the Cap! Make millionaires and billionaires have to pay the same percentage towards social security as those making 100,000 dollars a year.

[JDPriestly]

5. Good ad. "recomondations" -- Hey! On DU I make typos.

But when you publish a paper, you are supposed to proofread it carefully and eliminate misspellings and typos. If somebody in their crew spells it "recomondations," the Koch Bros. are not getting their money's worth.

Plus their recommendations on Social Security are horrible.

[antigop]

6. k&r

[KansDem]

8. When you consider the Koch Bros fortune comes from their father...

...building refineries for Stalin in the Soviet Union, their attack on US social programs becomes even more despicable.

[kenfrequed]

9. Well...

I have always thought that there were really only two possibilities when it comes to the Koch-father's founding of JBS.
1) He actually believes in this bullshit that he knows isn't true but is good for business.

or

2) He embraced and created this organization as PR move to blunt or head off criticism of his involvement with Stalin.


Heh... of course I have jokingly tried to convince right wingers that the Koch foundation and JBS is a secret communist conspiracy to make capitalism as heinous and savage as possible in order to make people want to embrace communism. But I don't seriously believe that for a moment.

[geretogo]

10. We have to tear down this Oligarchic State and for once in 240 years establish a true

Democratic Republic with a strong emphasis on " promote the general welfare " like the
Scandinavian countries .

[SmittynMo]

13. The Koch brothers are the

most vile and ruthless people on this planet. I'd love to see them in my shoes. 60 years old, been in IT my entire life, and no one wants to hire me. And they want us to go to 70? You talk about the poverty state. That'll do it for millions of people that will not have a job or funds to survive. What do you think will happen then?

[midnight]

15. kick