Fox News' headline, "
Bush Uses Social Security to Appeal to Youth" demonstrates disingenuous nature of the GOP talking points on youth and Social Security.
The public line is: youth would consider privatization; Bush is for privatization: thus young people will start switching sides and usher in 100 years of GOP dominance. It is always amusing to see reporters like Kelley Beaucar Vlahos distribute their message, but a little "reporting" would have shown that the dynamics of the Social Security debate require Bush to spend any youth political capital during the debate on Social Security -- Republicans will actually leave with a deficit of youth political support due to the necessity of forcing young workers to pay for the scheme.
Younger voters are moving against privatization, but young voters distrust Bush and the Republicans so completely that the GOP never would have made any true gains. But the real problem, as the GOP is discovering, is that Bush has lead the Republican Party into the no-man's land between Grandparents and their grandkids. Bush's wedge between the generations has resulted in Republicans being surrounded by pissed off grandparents and the (increasingly) political savvy Grandchildren of the Greatest Generation. Gray hairs and baggy pants...experience and energy, the AARP has a blog and the bloggers have a Political Action Committee.
Cato's blunder
In 1983, the Cato Institute published their blueprint for privatization: Achieving a Leninist Strategy (pdf).
As examined before, this document concluded that Seniors were too politically powerful and thus the financial burden of privatization should be placed upon young workers. Cato even focused on how much they could rip off young people and still have them choose privatization. This tactic is currently manifested in Bush's privatization-tax.
The goal was never to seek political capital from youth, what the privateers needed to finance their scheme is cold, hard cash. Cato's idea whores come from an economic background and have shown they possess limited political wherewithal. Cato's goal has always been to increase the efficiency of young workers subsidizing of the scheme, their focus is not on earning political support but on maximizing their formula to separate young people from their money.
The problem is that by seeking to not anger seniors, Cato's plan actually pissed off seniors. The Law of Unintended Consequences backhanded the Cato Institute with a reminder that this is chess, not checkers. Cato overplayed their hand, lost, and in the process linked the Republican Party to curse of privatization.
Political Bloodbath
By exempting Seniors from the privatization tax, Cato hoped to minimize opposition. But they forgot they were dealing with seniors, many from the Greatest Generation, who are primarily concerned with the economic security of their family. Altruism is a concept lost upon the libertarians, but is still alive and well in the hearts of the Greatest Generation.
People at the twilight of their lives are focused on ensuring that their children and grandchildren are secure. Take from today's seniors all you want, they've seen worse days...but threaten to take from their grandkids and they strike fast and hard. This is an instinct, a human trait.
While Cato never included Humanity in their charts and graphs, the GOP is finding out that Humanity is driving the polls. Americans believe in economic security for the next generation and furthermore, people don't want their retirement to be a burden on their children.
Cato played the Republican Party. All Cato needed was people talking about their crazy ideas to make them feel like they have legitimacy. Cato doesn't care that they put the Republican Party in an untenable situation that is likely to cost the GOP control of Washington. Cato has never been Republican, it has always been Libertarian. Cato has succeeded in forcing their extremism to the forefront of the debate and the GOP has been stuck with the bill.
Youth Join the Fray
Of course, the youth don't want to let their Grandparents dole out all the political retribution. When Cato published their 1983 memo, they assumed that youth disassociation with politics would remain constant. Their blunder is being made all the more apparent by activists who weren't born when Cato made the assumption, but currently have experience in a presidential campaign cycle and the anti-war movement. These 21st-century political activists have experience getting heard and their post-modern toolbox of laptops and cellphones allows them a multi-media voice and real-time communication.
The youth of today does care and the instant political gratification of the internet is giving young activists a vehicle to advance a style of cut-throat, real-time politics that makes their Grandparents blush. In calculating the potential to take advantage of young people, Cato underestimated the pain young people are looking to visit upon Bush and the GOP. Young people were looking for a reason to attack and Cato gave them both an excuse and the support of their grandparents.
Once More
As the dean of today's seniors, the Greatest Generation is ready for one-last mobilization. They remember what life was like before economic security and they are steadfast in their resolve to save future generations from the childhood they endured.
Grandparents will never let the GOP threaten the economic security of their grandchildren. Fighting privatization is instinctual for the Greatest Generation. They have nothing to lose but the security of their namesakes, which makes seniors a desperate political force.
It will be exciting to see the reaction of the grizzlies now that the GOP has threatened the cubs. As is often the case with bears, the take-down will be swift, but the body will be toyed with for some time before the critical blow renders it a corpse. After a grizzly neutralizes a threat, it will often let the cubs take over as a method of teaching the skills of the hunt.
The Endgame
Privatization retribution will follow a similar storyline with a take-down by the gray hairs and that saves the death-blow for the youth. The AARP has already moved the polls significantly, but it will be online where the privateers will be humiliated. Remember, the blogosphere's savaging of Jeff Gannon began when he asked a pro-privatization question at a press conference.
The Greatest Generation grew up in the depression and Generation X grew up with computers. Both of these perspectives are now in play in the intergenerational smackdown of those seeking to plunder Social Security.
Bush doesn't have a plan, won't release a plan, and couldn't pass any privatization plan.
Senate Republicans are running scared, House Republicans are running scared, the GOP stance is uncoordinated and Bush's lame duck status is preventing unity. In short, the Republican Party has been ruthlessly played by the Libertarian Party and is now on the verge of collapse.
To clean up the mess made by the politically inept Cato Institute, the privateers have now re-branded their campaign, Generations Together. This damage-control is an admission by the professionals that Cato screwed up and that Cato's blunder was severe enough to force a message re-invention emergency.
This chaos is about to turn into catastrophe for Republicans. When instinct takes over, mercy is rendered mute. This will be more than a typical political backlash. Politicians won't just be run out of office, they'll be run out of town.
Social Security is a compact between the generations and the coalition to save economic security is extends to both horizons of life. Cato sought to play the generations off each other, but this backfired. For the common good, seniors are joining with youth, retirees with new workers, to ensure that the compact remains. This year, the generations are coming together to save Social Security. Next year, they will remain united to punish the privateers.
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