Although it would be nice if Bush had our best interest at heart in his plan to privatize Social Security, I have my doubts. Now, I'm going to come out here. I'm an investor, and a Democrat! As an investor, I read things like Investors Business Daily. IBD is an excellent source of market information, it's also way over on the right. On Monday, January 24th, Jed Grahm wrote a front page article called:
Republicans Expect Big Payoff From Bush's Ownership Society: Even a modest $5,000 nest egg can transform your political outlook
This article offers insight into why the GOP would be interested in privatizing SS.
Among all investors, 53% voted for Bush and 46% for Sen. John Kerry, a post-election poll for the American Shareholders Association found. But the split was 61% for Bush and 37% for Kerry among the 30% of voters who say they're members of the investor class.
Wow! The investor class loves Republicans. 61% voted for Bush! What does that have to do with SS?
While the president's vision for fixing Social Security faces a mammoth struggle in coming months, pollsters and strategists say the political implications of creating tens of millions of new investors could be far-reaching.
With Social Security reform, perhaps 80% of households might own stocks and mutual funds, up from 52% now and just 30% in 1989, says Daniel Clifton, executive director of the American Shareholders Association.
"If you can get everyone invested in the markets . . . the direction of public policy is going to change significantly," Clifton said. "The idea of raising taxes on corporations is going to be a nonstarter because it eats into everyone's" personal retirement account.
"I think this presents a huge opportunity for Republicans," he said. "But it's not a done deal and they can still fail on how they structure" reform.
So if Bush can get everyone to be a member of the Ownership Society, they are more likely to vote Republican. What qualifies one as a member?
The stakes are high, says Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, which polls investors on a daily basis. He's found that a person's political attitudes begin to change once his investment portfolio hits about $5,000.
As you track your portfolio, "you begin to get information from different sources," Rasmussen said. "You become a little bit more connected."
Together, entrepreneurs and investors represent about 70% of voters and will "help define politics in the 21st century," Rasmussen said.
"Republicans are better positioned to connect with that group," he said.
$5,000 and I'm in, not bad. Then I get to vote for Republicans, to protect my portfolio. If you don't think Bush has this on his mind, read this quote:
At a recent event pushing private Social Security accounts, the centerpiece of his ownership agenda, Bush provided a rare window into the strategic thinking that's helped embolden him to take on the third rail of American politics.
In a seemingly off-script moment, Scott Ballard, a Washington state ambulance company owner, told Bush that his young employees never talk about Social Security. But Ballard went on to say that they tend to get more engaged in managing their retirement savings once they start to see their 401(k) plan assets accumulate.
The president quickly steered the discussion back into the political realm: "That's kind of an interesting thought, isn't it -- when you see it on paper, the value of something, you begin to actually pay attention to what causes values to go up -- good policies that enhance growth."
hmmm, "good policies." I'm not sure if I'm on board with that, but you can see where they're going with all of this. If they can get everyone a personal account valued at $5,000+, they feel that they would have a lock on future elections. In the Ownership Society, good corporate policy is also good public policy. They start to read the financial news, and think about protecting their portfolio. So, SS "reform" is about transforming the little guy into a protector of "good" corporate policy.
Now I understand why Bush is so hell bent on convincing us that SS is in a crisis. It sounds like the real crisis is that if they don't "fix" SS, people might vote for Democrats.