I am deeply concerned by recent talk here, and from Democrats in Congress, that Social Security is safe for decades to come.
This is a disastrous approach to combating Bush's Social Security Plan.
We all know that estimates of surpluses and deficits mean nothing. 5 years ago they predicted over a decade of massive budget surpluses; it didn't survive a year of Bush.
The reality is, we have a system in trouble, and Bush is putting it in more danger. But we're aguing that it's NOT in trouble; worse yet, in doing so, we imply that Bush is really trying to fix it.
We know that the most devastating aspect of Bush's fiscal plan is that it is part of a clear right-wing policy, thought up in think tanks thirty years ago, to destroy Social Security and Medicare while fooling the people. If we take the line of argument now that Social Security is a safe program, we lose the ability to sell the critical fact that renewing, or expanding, Bush's tax-cut economy will destroy our way of life. Even if we re-gain full control of government. This is a trap, and a framing disaster for us.
The argument we should take is simple. (1) Bush is lying, this will help millionaires
and hurt us. (2) This is part of a long-term strategy that, along with the tax-shift onto the middle class, will destroy that middle class to a pre-FDR, no-protections, depression economy. And, whoever proposed:
Bush's social-security phase-out plan was right on. Phase-out plan should be our phrase of the year. Like flip-flopper was for them.
The other thing I would do is pitt Bush's other failures against him.
LINK THIS LIE TO THE WMD'S LIE in ads. A simple ad: clips of Bush saying "Weapons of Mass Destruction," and then, "Social Security," one after the other. Over and over for 27 seconds. Maybe slightly longer phrases containing those words, so it's more tolerable. Then, at the end: "Would you trust this man with your retirement?"
LINK THIS TO THE MEDICARE PLAN whenever talking about it. Seniors weren't fooled by that one, we know this from polls, so let's ride on the fact that they know they were cheated once. We should be saying things like: "This is for Wall Street millionaires, just like their Medicare plan was for the Drug Companies, and the Seniors know it. Republicans tell the Seniors they're safe. Seniors are smarter than that. They know they rely on these checks, and they don't want to gamble."