BUSH'S REAL MOTIVATION FOR
SOCIAL SECURITY "REFORM"

From Democracy Now:

Well, it would mean trillions of dollars in terms of management fees that would erode small accounts that would be set up under this plan. So, yes, Wall Street has a motivation, but I think that really, it's broader than that. The Bush administration and the people around them really are out on an ideological mission to dismantle affirmative government. And therefore, they know that if they can get away with dismantling the Social Security system, the very, very popular retirement social insurance system that Americans have supported for decades, if they can dismantle that and privatize it as part of their “ownership society,” the slogan of which ought to be: “You're on your own, buddy,” that means that they can get away with practically anything. They can dismantle regulation. They can really go about the -- their whole agenda of dismantling government. It's an ideological fixation with them, and it's going to be an epic test with the very wealthy corporate America and Bush supporters on one side, and on the other side, the organizations that represent the American people. Labor, women's organizations, retiree groups around the country, AARP has just gotten into this battle.

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Vice President Cheney reportedly said a few years ago that Republican attempts to open up Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling really aren't about the oil--indeed, it is well understood that the region really doesn't have enough oil to make a major impact on overall US consumption. Instead, Cheney asserted that the whole thing is about making it okay to drill in environmentally sensitive areas, about setting a precedent and rolling back decades of environmental progress. So, too, with Social Security reform: if they can kill this biggest of liberal prizes, they can kill anything.

In reality, Republicans couldn't give less of a shit about your retirement money.

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