Okay, this is my first diary, so please be kind. And I know the topic isn't as sexy as voter fraud or fascism, but hear me out...
There are plenty of "liberal entitlements" that are not particularly popular with the middle class and have been decimated in the past twenty years. But one program has been the sacred cow above all the rest--important enough to get its own lockbox, its own trust fund and to avoid the Republican mania for destroying the welfare state. Social Security.
And so it should come as no surprise that in their arrogance derived from some mythical mandate, the Republicans have decided that the time has come to give away huge amounts of money to American big business aka the time has come to privitize social security.
I'm not sure if the Democratic leadership has realized this yet, but this could be a great boon for us, if we play our cards right.
Josh Marshall wrote in Talking Points Memo that the Democrats need to hold the line on this one: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_12_12.php#004237
(sorry, I don't know how to make a link work so I hope this does). Paul Krugman has found his way back to the NYTimes in order to rail against this latest economic atrocity being perpetrated by the Right. This issue is percolating, but on CNN it's being played as just an example of how Bush is actually caring about America's fiscal future (what a joke...).
Remember how the Republicans used health care to begin the process of destroying the Clinton presidency? Well, what about using this social security idiocy to destroy the Bush presidency? I'm talking about television commericials. I'm talking about Democratic counter-summits to the ridiculous presidential economic "summit" going on right now. I'm talking about speeches on the floor of the Senate. Letter writing campaigns from progressive groups. ETC.
This is not a fight Democrats should run from--not only because to abandon social security would be both economically wrong-headed and immoral--but also because this is a winning issue for the Left.
Right now over 50% of Americans are against Social Security privitization. This majority wont hold once the Republican attack machines start hammering on about an "ownership society" but that's why we need to strike preemtively. I really see a defense of Social Security as the potential wedge issue that could reawaken people to the good that the welfare state (there, I said it, I'm not afraid of the term) can really do for people.
What do y'all think?