Wall Street thugs are spending a billion dollars to attack Social Security

[eridani]

http://www.truthout.org/derailing-wall-street-attack-social-security59340

Emboldened by the fact that none of them have gone to jail for their role in the financial crisis, the Wall Street gang is now gunning for Social Security and Medicare, the country's most important safety net programs. Led by investment banker Pete Peterson, this crew is spending more than a billion dollars to convince the public that slashing these programs is the only way to protect our children and grandchildren from poverty.

Peterson has so much money to spend on this crusade that he can't even use it all up in the normal practice of buying think tank studies that support his position. Therefore he has sought out other mechanisms to support his attack. For example, he has funded a nationwide propaganda push called "America Speaks," which is designed to get ordinary citizens to agree with his Social Security slashing plans by giving them such a limited range of options to deal with scary deficit projections that they have no alternative <http://usabudgetdiscussion.org/>

Peterson is also funding a high school curriculum in the hopes of indoctrinating the nation's young with his quest. He has even created a news service called the "Fiscal Times". The Fiscal Times intends to plant deficit scare stories in newspapers that are desperate for copy now that they have downsized their news staffs. Peterson's son assembled the staff from the large group of journalists displaced by the collapse of the newspaper industry.

Peterson even funded the creation of a game "budget ball" to convince young people that taking away grandma and grandpa's Social Security and Medicare can be fun. Of course we haven't said a word about all the politicians of both political parties that this crew owns.

When kids get scared watching a horror flick, we tell them to repeat: "it's only a movie." As the Peterson gang ramps up its anti-Social Security and Medicare

[Vinnie From Indy]

1. I will bet that not a single word will be written about ending the endless wars

as a way to reduce the deficit. Ending the trillion dollar wars is perhaps the best first step iin reducing the deficit.

[Hannah Bell]

3. or on raising taxes on the rich, either. or on stopping the job flow offshore,

or on corporate tax shelters, or on raising workers wages, or on institing taxes on financial transactions.

the agenda:

raise social security taxes & cut benefits
defund medicare & cut benefits
vat tax


right wing, right wing, right wing

[Echo In Light]

4. Of course not. Goes against their religion.

[Juche]

12. Or on improving our health care efficiency

Every other wealthy nation on earth spends 8-11% of GDP on health care. THe US spends 17%.

If we had the efficiency of Germany, Canada, France, the UK, etc. then that alone would solve about 80% of our long term deficits.

Reforming health care is the most important thing. However doing that involves pissing off tons of powerful organizations (pharma, insurance industry, hospital industry). they aren't going to take a 1 trillion pay cut laying down.

Even Obama had to cut deals with them, protecting them from meaningful competition. No public option, no medicare negotiations, no reimportation of medications, etc.

[Hannah Bell]

2. [phone]

[Junkdrawer]

5. TheRealNews is doing a series on this....

Part 1:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=5082

Part 2:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=5086

[Selatius]

6. In a democratic republic, these oligarchs would've been imprisoned and removed from power. nt

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

7. And the Deficit Reduction Commission loaded with rightwing aholes

that strangely was NEVER discussed during the election that I can recall, which is giving itself powers that usurp Congressional oversight and control and I have to bet our current Administration will go right along with these guys to fleece the American public and roll back the only bit of a social safety net that we have - Medicare and Social Security.

I swear that their collective goal is to bring back the good old days of Victorian England combined with the Gilded Age of Robber Barons. Back then the poor had the decency to die on the streets or in the workhouses or debtor prisons. This is all a great plan to be rid of the "surplus population".

Love your families and plan for the future. Learn how to garden and can. Maybe learn how to spin yarn from all the pet hair in your house. Buy cat food futures. See if you can find any antique surgical and/or dental implements and instruction books on Ebay.

[ck4829]

8. K&R

[Junkdrawer]

9. And Obama is down with their agenda....n/t

[eridani]

10. That calls for using the White House contact email a lot, wouldn't you say? n/t

[FiveGoodMen]

11. Well...

I suppose it couldn't hurt.

But I don't really think it's possible that Obama cares about the American people's will and yet has opposed it at every turn.

He knows who he works for and it's not us.

I don't think he cares what we think. (Wow: "Who cares what you think?" -- where have I heard that before?)

[wishlist]

13. His goal- fending off tax increases for wealthy/investors who don't need SS

The Reagan Administration began the public scare mongering and negativity to undermine the Social Security program. I worked for the SS Administration back then and recall how the official govt notices and brochures suddenly started telling people that SS was not in good shape fiscally and going to run out of money whereas previous Administrations had assured Americans of the soundness and security and benefits of the program.

[troubledamerican]

14. If Obama betrays us on Social Security, then he IS a Cheney sleeper cell.

[unkachuck]

15. "...all the politicians of both political parties that this crew owns."

....if the corporate Dems even look like they're going to fuck up or fuck with my Social Security and Medicare, I will spend all my hard-earned money and work my balls off to elect repugs until I die....

....if this fuckin' country is going down, we're going down together....

[Canuckistanian]

16. Yes, let's give MORE money to Wall St.

They KNOW how to create wealth, don't they?

[flamingdem]

17. Most Americans don't have half of what they need to retire, how can he succeed??? nt