Selling Social Security Reform With Lies
Bush will try to sell social security reform tonight the same way he tried to sell us the War in Iraq--with lies. From a speech in early January appearing on the White House website here:
"By the time today's workers who are in their mid-20s begin to retire, the system will be bankrupt. So if you're 20 years old, in your mid-20s, and you're beginning to work, I want you to think about a Social Security system that will be flat bust, bankrupt, unless the United States Congress has got the willingness to act now."
Back to Salon:
Many economists would consider that statement very nearly an outright lie. If we do nothing at all, Social Security's accumulated trust fund will be depleted by about the middle of this century, at which point it will need to reduce, not discontinue, benefit payouts.
There is no crisis. But here is how Bush is going to spin it for you - straight from his playbook.
The Republicans left an annual retreat in the Allegheny Mountains with a 104-page playbook titled "Saving Social Security," a deliberate echo of the language President Bill Clinton used to argue that the retirement system's trust fund should be built up in anticipation of the baby boomers' retirement.
The congressional Republicans' confidential plan was developed with the advice of pollsters, marketing experts and communication consultants, and was provided to The Washington Post by a Republican official. The blueprint urges lawmakers to promote the "personalization" of Social Security, suggesting ownership and control, rather than "privatization," which "connotes the total corporate takeover of Social Security." Democratic strategists said they intend to continue fighting the Republican plan by branding it privatization, and assert that depiction is already set in people's minds.
In other words, you won't hear "building wealth" but you will hear "setting aside a nest egg." The trust fund won't be "meaningless" but it will be "an empty promise." You won't hear specific millions or trillions of dollars, but instead, hear about "your family's share."
Salon continues:
In the campaign that the White House is about to launch, the numbers won't count for much. What will count, as Republicans suggest in their playbook, are language and media, and public relations spinners will matter far more than economists. Key supporters of the White House plan -- corporate interests, mainly -- are gearing up to launch expensive ad campaigns pushing the new scheme, and after his speech, Bush himself will barnstorm the nation, invading key congressional districts to pressure Democrats and even some free-thinking Republicans to commit to private accounts. So far, Democrats have done well in pushing against the effort, but the public is still very much open to the privatization plan, experts say, and Bush's simple hard sell could work.
There couldn't be more at stake:
Players on each side agree that the debate over Social Security will constitute the defining political battle of the age. If Bush prevails, you'll hear calls for carving his mug into Mount Rushmore. If he loses, the Democrats will have proved they're still in the game.
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