Bush's "ownership society" is actually a "casino culture"

[scottxyz]

When Bush keeps repeating "ownership society" over and over, he actually means phasing out Social Security and replacing guaranteed benefits for retirees with gambling - and guaranteed profits for Wall Street brokers.

Bush's opponents should adopt a more honest description and repeat it until it sinks in to people what Bush is up to:

How about "casino culture"?



401K's are a looming disaster, with many having lost their value during the crash. Many are vunerable to market fluctuations, losses, at any time. When people hear this, given an ingrained distrust of Wall Street and big business, the risk of the ownership soceity is unappealing, at best.

It sounds great, but when people realize their old age is on the line, they won't be so eager to take the chance.

Bush likes risk, women with small kids define 'risk-averse'. Tell the soccer moms that Bush wants to gamble with their future in a big way.

Losing money is the psychological core here. People hate the idea of losing money. Stress this, and Bush HAS no answer. What is he going to say? The government will cover the costs? He can't. Tell people that Bush's plan may cost them retirement, remind them about what happened to 401K's recently, and you have a winning argument. Most Americans think they may be rich, but they aren't stupid. Most people think, in a survey I saw, 80 percent, that money in the market is insured. Get people like Bob Rubin, Eliot Spitzer and Arthur Levitt to explain the consequences of this plan and how the market works.

You can sum up Bush's plan as: he wants to take your secure Social Security money and have you lose it in the stock market.

http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2005/01/bushs-social-security-plan-six-coming.html

[cheezus]

1. Some say that Bush has already made this comparison

that the elderly just waste their checks at Indian casinos anyway, and that the young people would be better off gambling on the stock market.

some say...

[KoKo]

2. 80 percent of Americans think the Stock Market is Insured??? Get outta

here! :wow: I knew illiteracy was a problem...but this is worse than I thought!

[FormerDittoHead]

3. Pretty good framing which addresses the RISKS of the B* SCHEME

Yes, it's true! Many people DO WIN BIG at the casino!

But... the HOUSE always wins in the long run.

The OP offers a good framing to summarize the fact that risk and reward go hand in hand, and that no pro-privatizing S.S. freeper talks about the RISKS, only "Average Returns".

If one were to PAY ATTENTION in finance class (which Bush admitted not paying attention in college to all those professors who thought they 'knew it all') one would LEARN that the *******REASON******** stocks yield a higher rate of return is because of the

ADDED RISK

.

The market adjusts stock prices according to the amount of ***RISK*** in proportion to their returns.

[Deb]

4. bush is asking citizens to sin

Suddenly it's moral to gamble your future financial security on stocks or invest in the manufacture of sinful products because bush wants it.

Great post, I've been searching for an explanation from Christian Right organizations on the morality of bush's SS plan.

Their guidance to parishioners on this "unchristian" gambling activity should be interesting. My fear is that bush's SS plan plays into their biased financial "counseling" activities.

(btw, I own stock)

[bleever]

5. "Casino Culture" is really good. I also think we should call

it "commercializing" Social Security, instead of using the p-word.

:thumbsup:

[scottxyz]

7. "Commercializing"!

That's a great way to describe it also!

[Deja Q]

6. Or a lottery culture...

1. The government takes out over 50% of the winnings as taxable income. There's no escape. Not for regular folks like us.

2. The system preys on peoples' selfishness and inability to think laterally, to see outside the box in order to see inside of it...

3. The odds of winning are so slight, you're much more likely to get struck by lightning or drown in a bathtub or having a rabid tadpole bite off your genitalia. In other words, don't expect to win. Ever.

[Cronus Protagonist]

8. Funny you should say that... a picture is worth a thousand words

http://bushspeaks.com/home.asp?did=38

[bleever]

9. Kickin' for all the pretty lights.

[quaker bill]

10. Nice turn of phrase

"Casino Culture" It has a good ring to it.

I also like "Pirate-izing Social Security"

[No Exit]

11. Good name! I guess Bill Bennett can be named the new czar

of the Department of Casino Culture.

This reminds me of a very smart thing someone once said to me. He was shaking his head about our society in general, and said, "This is what you get when you have an ECONOMY instead of a CULTURE."

We Americans no longer have a culture--we just have an economy. This is truer than ever with robber baron Bush at the helm.