President Bush's bid to add individual accounts to Social Security faces such formidable opposition in the Senate that its supporters may be unable to bring it to a vote, according to a Washington Post survey of senators.
An overwhelming majority of Democratic senators said they will oppose, under any circumstances, Bush's plan to allow younger workers to divert a portion of their Social Security payroll taxes into individual investment accounts that would follow them into retirement. A few others said they will not support such accounts if they require substantial government borrowing. Even many Republicans say that is inevitable because the alternative involves unacceptably large cuts in benefits or tax increases to replace the diverted taxes or both.
Yeah. God forbid he rescind even a small part of the tax-cut gravy train. That's the real "third rail" for Bush. Social Security is just something for him to test his "mandate" against. Guess what, Slick -- your only mandate is with a nekkid guy who can't decide if his name is James or Jeff.
Vice President Cheney has said the Bush accounts would cost "trillions of dollars." Democrats put the price tag at $5 trillion over 20 years.
In the clearest sign yet that Bush's efforts to win bipartisan support are flagging, several Democrats whom the White House has been courting said they will not support the accounts at all. They include Sens. Thomas R. Carper (Del.) and Mary Landrieu (La.). Three other Bush targets -- Sens. Kent Conrad (N.D.), Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) and Mark Pryor (Ark.) -- said they will not support individual accounts financed by heavy borrowing.
Like Tom DeLay, Cheney let an unfortunate truth (from the standpoint of the marketing campaign) out of the proverbial bag. Five trillion dollars over twenty years, so $250 bn per year, starting in 2009. And what's the shortfall starting 2027 going to be?
It's a good thing the Democrats, even the usual fence-sitters, seem to be finding Jesus on this subject. They had best be aware that the attempt to "compromise" will be the next phase of the marketing campaign. It may happen at the end of this summer, the better to position Dems as stodgy bastards who won't play nice; or it may happen during the midterm campaign season. It's probably dependent on just how much fuzzy math can be concocted and contorted to make this non-existent plan look like a good idea. So far they're sucking wind, but as I said before, they've got every ass-spelunker looking for numbers to pull out when the time is right.
Regardless, the Democrats who compromise on this will be targeted in the midterms, because they'll be seen as politically weak. Give 'em some backbone; call their offices or e-mail them and tell them not to budge. If they hear it enough, they'll listen; if not, they'll just put their finger to the prevailing winds. With this lazy, incompetent media, anything's possible there.
Bush, who has needed the support of some moderate and conservative Democrats to push through his major initiatives, yesterday appealed to all Democrats to cut a compromise. "If you see a problem, members of Congress, regardless of your party, you have an obligation to come to the table," he said in a speech in Louisville. "Let's work together to solve it. All ideas are on the table." Once the public realizes the seriousness of Social Security's long-term problems, Bush said, "I pity the politicians who stand in the way of a solution."
Next phase may or may not involve Bush getting a Mohawk and wearing 20 pounds of gold chains and medallions around his neck. Frankly, I think he'd be better off going the Flavor Flav route -- gold toof and giant clock around the neck -- than Mr. T, but I suppose we can agree to disagree.
But his disingenuousness on this is remarkable. He doesn't want to "work together". "All ideas" are not "on the table". I don't know who he thinks he's fooling with this shit, but aside from his Potemkin town-hall crowds, it appears his political capital is just mouth-breather scrip -- he can only spend it in the company store.
By the way, Senators Collins (R-ME), Snowe (R-ME), and Chafee (R-RI), come on over to the light. We could use a few good senators. They call you RINOs anyway; why not prove 'em right, and give 'em a hearty "fuck you very much" on your way out?
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