I want to give credit to DU for first posting this story.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aK9Hi3J.L61A&refer=us
This makes it quite clear that Rove and Bush or Bush and Rove, however one looks at it have put their stake in the ground.
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``The personal retirement account has to be part of the long- term solution,'' Rove, Bush's chief political and policy adviser, said in an interview in Washington yesterday. ``The public and Congress are becoming aware that it's a serious problem.'' <snip>
I would say Rove knows something we don't...
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Rove denied that Republican apprehension was any cause for serious concern. ``This is a big issue,'' he said. ``It's a big fundamental reform. It's vital to the country, and nothing ever comes easy.'' He pointed to initial reluctance in Congress to pass Bush's tax cuts, an education bill and a resolution authorizing the U.S. to invade Iraq.
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Rove will push this reform at all costs, expect the unexpected!!!!!
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``We've already got add-ons; they're called IRAs and 401(k)s,'' Rove said. ``What we face is, we need to do something for the working man who's living from paycheck to paycheck and doesn't have extra money to put aside for retirement. That's the person for whom a personal retirement account is most important and most vital.''
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quite clearly, Rove and his associates are intensely searching for just the right phrase to frame the issue to "sell it" to the "working man"
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``The president has said he's going to provide cover for anybody who want to discuss the issues and people have a right to discuss them,'' Rove said.
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uh, only if you agree with their POV, independents and democrats are being removed from event after event. There is no honest debate about the pro's and con's of the current system and the proposed changes.
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In yesterday's interview, Rove also said Bush won't name a successor to Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan anytime soon, and ruled out any government intervention to curb rising oil prices.
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I guess Rove is waiting for high prices to crush demand and lead to a glut and crash in prices, or knows something we don't.
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``The last time we addressed Social Security in a substantive way was 1983,'' he said. ``If personal accounts had been part of the solution in 1983, think about it, the market since 1983 is up 800 percent. Imagine how much more secure people's retirements would be if starting in 1983 they'd been able to put money aside as the market grew, as it does over time, dramatically.''
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Imagine that, we could have all enjoyed an 800% return on our investment.
As many here at dKOS, TPM, DU and many, many of the other sites have stated this fight is no where near over. It has just begun, expect no mercy, expect the unexpected!!!!