I wonder whether Republicans have charts in their offices, in which the parts of Americans’ safety net and freedoms to kill are marked with bullseyes, like the one Sarah Palin used to mark Gabrielle Gifford’s district. If so, there is an especially big bullseye on Social Security. Republicans have tried to kill it since its inception, and the latest round has begun.
Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, is leading a group of GOP lawmakers to privatize Social Security.
Sessions, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), introduced a bill on June 3, H.R. 2109, the Savings Account for Every American Act [Republican delinked], which would allow workers to opt out of Social Security and opt in to a private SAFE account–a move critics say is a revival of President George W. Bush’s failed attempts to privatize Social Security through private accounts.
Eric Kingson, co-director of Social Security Works, said in a statement that if passed, Sessions’ bill “could reduce Social Security’s income immediately by over 40% by diverting the full 6.2% of employee Social Security contributions to private accounts.”
After 15 years, he said, “the employer contributions could be diverted as well, reducing Social Security’s income by around 85%.” Session’s legislation, he continued, would “totally undermine Social Security’s financing and put at risk the benefits of millions of seniors, women, disabled beneficiaries and others,” while creating “immediate windfalls in the form of billions of dollars of administrative fees for Wall Street.”… [emphasis Original]
Inserted from <AdvisorOne>
Now as long as scandals are in order this week, Sessions is another of those Republican “family values” guys. Consider this from last year:
The Republican National Committee’s bondage scandal seems to have, ahem, legs. The GOP scandal that led to the firing of a female staffer who helped organize a $1,946 visit for donors last month to a sex-themed Hollywood club has foes and critics pouring over past news stories and Federal Election Commission reports for other sex club outings by Republicans.
What they’ve turned up is a couple of fundraisers held by Texas Rep. Pete Sessions a while back. He currently runs the National Republican Congressional Committee, the top fundraising and candidate recruitment operation for House Republicans.
A House aide called the fundraisers old news and events that happened before Sessions took his leadership position.
At worst, one of the fundraisers, held in 2007, was at a Vegas burlesque club, Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce. FEC papers show Pete PAC spent $5,378 at the burlesque club, which also that year hosted porn-star Jenna Jameson’s 33rd birthday party… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <US News>
Frankly, I wouldn’t care if he were surrounded by 100 scantily clad ladies, were he not a family values hypocrite, one of Ralph Reed’s crowd. He seems to say one thing and do another.
Back to Social Security, Cenk Uygur joins Rachel Maddow to discuss how Republican plans to privatize Social Security could become even more unpopular than their plans to kill Medicare.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Cenk makes an excellent point near the end. Democrats cannot afford to give in to the terrorism of Republican blackmail. In my opinion, to compromise one iota on either Social Security or Medicare is political suicide.
21 Responses to “Bullseye on Social Security”
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Wow, they are going for all 3 rails of politics – Medicare, Medicaid and SS. This kind of gift to the Dems is a once in a life time chance to just derail the Repubs forever. They just can’t seem to help themselves. If the Dems fuck this up, they don’t deserve to be a party either. Every Rep and Senator should be screaming this from the rooftops! I can’t wait to see the political ads from this! Remember how badly this backfired in Bush’s face and now they are trying to resurrect it? Do they not have any memories of that? Apparently not! This just gets better and better. All the Dems have to do is remove the cap from SS and it will be solvent from here until the sun goes super nova. Come on Dems, propose that bill; even if it doesn’t pass now, it will after the 2012 elections! What unbelievable idiots the Repubs are and I hope they take the full heat for this! 🙄 🙄 😆 😆 😆
Oh, and Pete Sessions is as dumb as they come, even for a Texan, his IQ is in the single digits on this one. I hope he and all his Repub friends vote for this!
Lisa, I agree, but what you say only applies if Dems grow balls. If they cave in, they will get more blame than the damn Republicans.
Give them enough rope and they’ll hang themselves.
May it be so, Patty.
If the Democrats are really serious about delivering for their constituents, they will stand firm, violently oppose ANY change to Social Security OR Medicare OR Medicaid, and drive this issue like a stake squarely into every Republican vampire’s heart in 2012!
Amen Pope Jack!
The only thing the privatizing SS does is lessen benefit security and shift a portion of the benefits to the banksters as fees. If everyone invested their money in T bills, like the SS surplus is now, we would still have the redemption problems that currently exist. If the money is put into stocks and bonds, you are gambling with your retirement, not a smart thing to do.
SS privatization benefits the banksters at the expense of the American people.
And privatized, much of it would end up in securities backed by sub-prime mortgages.
I cannot say it better than Jack Jodell : Time for the Democrats to stand up to the Vampire ; (really like that image jack ) Bloodsucking Repigs
Phyllis, disagreeing with Pope Jack is a major feat! 😉
Disagree with Jack ?? Never Never !!!
Smart girl! 😉
“$AFE” Private ACCOUNT$ until you find the ACCOUNT MANAGER$ have removed your $ from the _AFE!
Obtuse, but accurate.
If the billionaires are going to attack us, we should start attacking them. Peterson, Koch, Scaife, Mellon, Walton, DeVos, Coors, et al. We need to tax the hell out of the billionaires that are pushing all these anti-social attacks. Hey, they got theirs.
http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/node/2680
Jimbo, I fully agree. Good article.
I would like to see all polticians stripped of all their income, cash, savings, earnings, real estate,
investments, etc., not otherwise earned by doing something productive ..
and then stripped of social security and medicare … since their incomes are tax payer
jackpots and all other residual income is political graft or legallized corruption…
MS, that’s too simplistic, I think. Criminal corporations would up the ante yo make up for their losses putting them even moor in thrall. 100% public campaign financing is a better solution.
That man, Pete Sessions parties WAAY too hard. Look at him wearing that poor girls tin foil G-string on his head!
Dang! If that’s a G-string, I feel sorry for the girl!