Hotel Vegas
Bush's Social Security Plan May Be Socialists' Triumph
RECEIVED Thu., March 10, 2005
Dear Editor,
Many liberals, including myself, have balked at the idea that we will soon be able to divert a portion of our Social Security payroll taxes into private investment accounts. After all, the conservative right devised this scheme. Isn't that grounds for immediate dismissal?
Then again, hasty judgment prevents broadmindedness. Perhaps some benefit could come from such drastic changes.
Clearly, the current executive branch would like to eliminate most of our federal social services. The past five years have also shown that this presidency is unabashedly pro big business. However, Bush's plans for Social Security are veering from his steadfastness to laissez-faire capitalism.
In his State of the Union, Bush announced that Americans would soon have the option of diverting some of their retirement monies into funds similar to those available for federal employees. What he failed to mention is that Thrift Savings Plans are managed through a bid process that bears a striking resemblance to government regulation.
If his proposal passes, the government would eventually have more swing on Wall Street than the attorney general of New York. Our president's plan adds a level of bureaucracy, elevates socialism, and takes power from the same corporations that backed his re-election. He is actually proposing that the United States government should be the largest stakeholder in the global economy.
Imagine a day where our votes (not as stockholders, but as citizens) will actually dictate which corporations receive financial backing. Global corporations currently have few regulatory restraints, but with the overhaul of Social Security any corporate action that does not align itself with the will of the American people could loose a tremendous amount of its capital in the matter of one election cycle.
The overhaul of Social Security may be democracy's last chance to check corporate domination.
Many liberals, including myself, have balked at the idea that we will soon be able to divert a portion of our Social Security payroll taxes into private investment accounts. After all, the conservative right devised this scheme. Isn't that grounds for immediate dismissal?
Then again, hasty judgment prevents broadmindedness. Perhaps some benefit could come from such drastic changes.
Clearly, the current executive branch would like to eliminate most of our federal social services. The past five years have also shown that this presidency is unabashedly pro big business. However, Bush's plans for Social Security are veering from his steadfastness to laissez-faire capitalism.
In his State of the Union, Bush announced that Americans would soon have the option of diverting some of their retirement monies into funds similar to those available for federal employees. What he failed to mention is that Thrift Savings Plans are managed through a bid process that bears a striking resemblance to government regulation.
If his proposal passes, the government would eventually have more swing on Wall Street than the attorney general of New York. Our president's plan adds a level of bureaucracy, elevates socialism, and takes power from the same corporations that backed his re-election. He is actually proposing that the United States government should be the largest stakeholder in the global economy.
Imagine a day where our votes (not as stockholders, but as citizens) will actually dictate which corporations receive financial backing. Global corporations currently have few regulatory restraints, but with the overhaul of Social Security any corporate action that does not align itself with the will of the American people could loose a tremendous amount of its capital in the matter of one election cycle.
The overhaul of Social Security may be democracy's last chance to check corporate domination.
Rad Tollett
