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I'MMA LET YOU FINISH

Frist?
ugly bag of mostly water | 01.15.05 - 1:03 pm | #

YEEEEEEHAAAAAA!!!!
ugly bag of mostly water | 01.15.05 - 1:03 pm | #

What's the big deal?
Armstrong W. | 01.15.05 - 1:05 pm | #

Jeepers H. Xmas. Flat broke? Busted system? Nope. Discription of Shrubs empty head? Yep.
bigvic | 01.15.05 - 1:06 pm | #

woowoo!
woowooboi | 01.15.05 - 1:07 pm | #

I think this social security privatization push is a slam dunk!

We'd all be CRAZY not to try it!
A. Williams | 01.15.05 - 1:08 pm | #

They will lost both houses of congress over this issue in 2006. Their collective karma will finally catch up with them.
M | 01.15.05 - 1:09 pm | #

- Over the objections of many of its own employees, the Social Security Administration is gearing up for a major effort to publicize the financial problems of Social Security and to persuade the public that private accounts are needed as part of any solution.

How fucking many times are we going to have to endure this kind of nonsense?
bigvic | 01.15.05 - 1:10 pm | #

It's kind of like charging you for the bullets they're going to use to execute you, ya know?
Hecate | 01.15.05 - 1:11 pm | #

these people are shameless;leave no PR lever unpushed. and dont forget: "it's your money" we're spending to promote policies that the rich get richer on.
And gloating; the inaugural is one giant gloat fest.
and rationalizing; see laura bush commenting on why the gross inaugural spending is a good idea: it keeps the hotels, restaurants and caterers busy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/1...html? oref=login
move over marie antionette.
peterboy | 01.15.05 - 1:11 pm | #

After they destroy SS, what's next on their agenda? Oh I forgot, public education.
ugly bag of mostly water | 01.15.05 - 1:12 pm | #

i hate to say it cos ss was a God send after i was widowed with two small children but this past year if i had a dollar for all the stupid paperwork they sent me in trying to take me off when youngest turned 16 and oldest turned 18- it was so screwed up and thank God i had savings but at one point they even requested like $3,000 for their mis-calculations. eventually it all came out in the wash but for them to spout fiscal theories don't mean nuthin to me!
waiting | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:12 pm | #

Revenge is the main motivator of bush.He is no deeper than that.

This phony SS crisis is payback to FDR for hitting bushs' grandfather,Prescott,for his dealings with the Nazi regime.
notch | 01.15.05 - 1:13 pm | #

Other than TPM - who the hell is doing anything about this besides ranting.

Where are the ad's? Where are the talking points? Who is doing our marketing?

Oh I forgot, we're democrats - we bitch and lose.
lb0313 | 01.15.05 - 1:14 pm | #

Trust fund dollars should not be used to promote a political agenda," said Dana C. Duggins, a vice president of the Social Security Council of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 50,000 of the agency's 64,000 workers and has opposed private accounts.

No shit, Sherlock. Damn, Armstrong should apply for another $240,000 to promote this dog. Bu$h is dead in the water over this.
bigvic | 01.15.05 - 1:16 pm | #

I seem to remember there was a "crisis" in Iraq a couple of years ago, something about some guy named Saddam who had stockpiles of weapons so deadly and evil that the US needed to invade and disarm him immediately...
Stinky | 01.15.05 - 1:17 pm | #

Okay, so the Bush regime is going to use Social Security funds to tell people that Social Security is going broke. Man, you can't make this shit up! We're in the fucking Twilight Zone, folks. Where's Rod Serling when you need him?
gene214 | 01.15.05 - 1:17 pm | #

Folks,

I've acheived something great - my blog is now Google's top result for search-term: "Hyena Clitoris".

Google Search "Hyena Clitoris"

First thing you see is my blog-entry about Anne Coulter's Giant Hyena Clitoris.
Visual Politics | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:18 pm | #

Oh wait, I take that back. I misspelled it! WHaaaaaa!
Visual Politics | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:19 pm | #

VP: Don't mix pleasure with business.
Nur al-Cubicle | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:19 pm | #

All your cheques belong to us.

c/o the guys and gals at SSA.
moeman | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:20 pm | #

Nur al-Cubicle,
I'll stop, now that I realize I have nothing to brag about.
Visual Politics | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:21 pm | #

Go here to read about what you hear when you call the Social Security Administration and are put on hold, as was discussed yesterday on Democracy Now!
Eli Stephens | 01.15.05 - 1:21 pm | #

Good point, stinky, but remember, despite all the evidence to the contrary, more than half the country still believes Iraq had WMD's and that Saddam was behind 9/11. They believed Bush and his bullshit then, and they'll believe him now. Why, because he has the entire "maintream" media in his pocket.
gene214 | 01.15.05 - 1:23 pm | #

Well, he want and bought a yacht, too-why does the president need, like, one of every type of vehicle, paid for w/ tax revenue- what is he, batman? presidential snowmobile next?

It's just like in the 80's w/ CEOs driving up company debt to force the company to be more 'efficient'. GOP wants to destroy everything good the gvt does- thereby getting rid of rich people's tax liability- by driving up the debt and then suggesting that we have to cut all the programs to pay for it when it becomes a crisis.

The more they out us in debt now, the better it is for their plan to destroy govt as we know it and replace it w/ gvt that has nothing except:
1)intelligence capacity
2) military capacity and
3) protection for rich people's money written into the law.

The admin even works to hamstring the IRS and the SEC.
Swan | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:23 pm | #

The Busheviks should launch the most expensive ad campaign in history--dozens of movie stars and supermodels, animated neon billboards everywhere, prime time hour-long infomercials on all the networks, and huge commissions for the ad men, until the system is indeed bankrupt. I'm not sure of a slogan, but something along the lines of "Submit now or see this ad again!"
Draco | 01.15.05 - 1:26 pm | #

They believed Bush and his bullshit then, and they'll believe him now. Why, because he has the entire "maintream" media in his pocket.
gene214

Sad but true. I'd like to put the mainstream media into a giant gulag. I despise them. Time for some cleansing breaths.

Inhale...

Exhale...

Inhale...

Exhale...
Visual Politics | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:27 pm | #

Sounds good to me!

.
Kenneth Lay | 01.15.05 - 1:29 pm | #

This privatization of SS, is all about putting money in the stockmarket. If you have stocks and Bish succeeds, you stand to reap massive gains. You'll need them because privatization will bankrupt SS.

My advice: Greed is Good. Buy shares now!

The New Democrat
Ricky | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:33 pm | #

Aren't you glad John Kerry conceded so early? It's not like a guy who married a billionaire will have to worry about his ss being cut right?
jr | 01.15.05 - 1:35 pm | #

Republican insurance: you pay in.

That's it -- your premiums go in, we take it from there (and we do mean ...)

WTF are you losers staring at? Move along, go home, get a haircut. Croak already. Jeebus.
Peanut | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:37 pm | #

Ricky, you suck.
Visual Politics | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:38 pm | #

Oh, I should add to my first post- if the GOP can eliminate all those programs from being administrated fairly my gvt, then their rich-conservative-elite cronies get to pick up the business, through privatization, as they choose. 'more loot for us,' they think.
Swan | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:40 pm | #

Frankly, this level of propaganda is starting to make me sick. The stakes are incredibly high, not only for the future of our retirement insurance (social security), but also to determine the ability for the radical right to do even more damage to social policy.

The new Gilded Age is coming, if SS privatization isn't stopped.
pseudolus | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:40 pm | #

What part of "Crimes and Misdemeanors" doesn't Congress understand?

http://tinyurl.com/5q3ta

“Richard M. Nixon has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as president and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.”

Substitue --"George Walker Bush" for "Richard Milhouse Nixon".

Also: Impeachement includes other Federal officials, not just the presidency.
MeToo | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:44 pm | #

To doctor social security:
follow the Hippocratic Oath, not the hypocritic oaf!
Shem the Penman | 01.15.05 - 1:45 pm | #

From NYT (reporting that Social Security Administration- they don't say 'Bush hacks'!- are pushing Bush's propaganda campaign):

Social Security officials say the agency is carrying out its mission to educate the public, including more than 47 million beneficiaries, and to support the agenda of President Bush.

But agency employees have complained to Social Security officials that they are being conscripted into a political battle over the future of the program. They question the accuracy of recent statements by the agency, and they say that money from the Social Security trust fund should not be used for such advocacy.

"Trust fund dollars should not be used to promote a political agenda," said Dana C. Duggins, a vice president of the Social Security Council of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 50,000 of the agency's 64,000 workers and has opposed private accounts.
Swan | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:45 pm | #

"This privatization of SS, is all about putting money in the stockmarket." - Ricky

It's also about preserving tax cuts for the very wealthy by killing off the program whose surpluses made the tax cuts possible in the first place.

Reagan is thought of fondly by conservatives as a big tax cutter. People forget that he also presided over a huge tax increase relating to social security. This scheme was cooked up by a commission headed by Alan Greenspan as a means for raping working people to benefit the wealthy. A great book on the subject is David Kay Johnston's book, "Perfectly Legal; The Covert Campaign to Rig the Tax System to Benefit The Super Rich - and Cheat Everyone Else"

These bastards need to be stopped. The idea of using SS funds for a public relations move to destroy confidence in the system is especially heinous.
Tom | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:45 pm | #

Probably the war is just a sock puppet to distract everyone from the massive SS ripoff. Georgie just had to outdo his brother Neil..."
Steal from a paltry savings and loan, you piker, watch this..."
northsylvania | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:47 pm | #

read the whole NYT article today. the lies the GOP is putting out on this through the hacks they've installed in SS- incredible.
Swan | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:48 pm | #

It's kind of like charging you for the bullets they're going to use to execute you, ya know?
Hecate

So good it had to be said again.
Tena | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:50 pm | #

In Bush's cult, the Welfare State is evil. He's hooked on unreality. He doesn't understand what happened to the mass of society, never read Zola or Hugo, or the US muckrackers, hasn't looked under the bridges or in the old folks' home, never read the biography of Fiorello LaGuardia. He has no idea what a modern state looks like or what it owes its citizens.

An Italian historian, Giovanni Aldobrandini, says it all for me:

Within Laissez Faire are embedded the Reformation and Protestantism, with its emphasis on personal responsibility, sense of duty, work ethic and capacity for self-maintenance. The defenders of Laissez Faire believe poverty is an affliction or a shameful reluctance to work. Workhouses are the manifest sign of the overturning of ancient Catholic charity. For the bourgeoisie of the 1800's, the market is the just and spontaneous allocator of resources to everyone according to their means, their purposes and thier luck, without regard to the final outcome. It was important to establish the rules of the game, in particular, The Rule of Law, i.e., the State, whose sole responsibiity is the maintenance of domestic and international order...The market doesn't allow collective projects for the benefit of society but only imposes a series of abstract conditions which pre-determine certain outcomes, which the individual more or less accepts.
Nur al-Cubicle | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:52 pm | #

if we don't like the private accounts, they'll tax SS out of existence
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/...5/ 011605Y.shtml
discontent73 | 01.15.05 - 1:55 pm | #

I also noted that Bush referred to the need to "reform" social security as "a moral obligation."
Nur al-Cubicle | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:55 pm | #

oops- why am I postin excerpts from the article Atrios was linking to?

*turns red*

Anyway- Tom nails it in his post above.
Swan | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 1:55 pm | #

One last thing..

The Welfare State is not "rampant socialism" but was founded out of a feeling of guilt over the social fracture caused by the cold rationality and utilitarian calculations of the market but most important, to protect individuals against the violence of Laissez-Faire, which has no use for the young, the old, the handicapped, the mentally ill, etc. It comes out the belief in the pursuit of happiness, translated into the right to an existence of dignity.

Bush = Bismarck = fuck off and die, unless you are a cop or a soldier.

Bush wants us to fuck off and die, essentially, unless we're willing to work as troopers.
Nur al-Cubicle | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 2:10 pm | #

Fact: Bushboy's "private accounts" will cost trillions $$$ to set up and will drain SS constantly thereafter.

Fact: All SS recipients, especially those in their 20s right now will receive lower SS benefits than they ordinarily would, because of Bushboy's "privatization scam" even when you add back in the value of their "private account" at retirement.

This is vouched for by the CBO and the SS actuaries!

Bushboy is screwing everyone but the rich so the Banks and the Brokerage Firms can make hundreds of billions in new commissions and fees (of course Bushboy and the Goopers will get their usual "donation" skim from these profits)!
Rudy | 01.15.05 - 2:10 pm | #

I was NEVER so financially strapped as during the Raygun tax increases. Every bit of my raises were eaten up by tax increases. Unless you were in the higher tax brackets, you got screwed.
bigvic | 01.15.05 - 2:13 pm | #

The Democrats and John Kerry have to make the battle to save SS the key domestic issue of 2005!

Bushboy should be impeached for refusing to even consider simple measures that could correct the SS shortfall that won't occur until 2052 such as:

1. Cancel the elimination of the Estate Tax.

2. Cancel the tax cuts for the rich that have already plunged America into dangerous and record deficits.

3. Increase the income level that pays SS taxes from $90,000/year to $120,000/year.

Any of these measures would be easy to implement and would only effect the extremely rich in ways they wouldn't even notice.
Rudy | 01.15.05 - 2:14 pm | #

America has a depraved moron as POTUS.

Never in our history have we had a POTUS as arrogant, ignorant and mean-spirited as Bushboy.

The Bush clan is a nest of vipers who feed on the masses like the bloodsuckers they are!
Rudy | 01.15.05 - 2:17 pm | #

Yikes. This is worser and worser. My outrage is gonna last more than 4 hours...should I seek immediate medical attention?
rankopinion | 01.15.05 - 2:21 pm | #

Democrats are not getting air time. Even NPR seems to be playing nothing but Bush sound bites. I want to hear a Dem call Bush a lier. I want to see Bush completely humiliated in the mainstream press. Anybody see any quotes from Edwards lately?
cj | 01.15.05 - 2:21 pm | #

Although the British are now having enormous problems with their "privatized" government pension plan, you will hear little or nothing about it on any of our mass media organs (TV, radio or newspapers).

The Brits switched to a "private account" system about 20 years and they now find that 75% of their recipients do not have enough money to retire on and the government might have to increase taxes and borrow to make up for this disastrous shortfall.

Meanwhile America inanely considers Bushboy's idiotic SS scam as though it has merit, even though it comes from the same people who gave us the Iraq War (war on terror?) and the tax cuts for the rich that was going to cure all our economic problems.

How many times does Bushboy get to cry wolf?
Rudy | 01.15.05 - 2:23 pm | #

The new Gilded Age is coming, if SS privatization isn't stopped.

And the Republicans don't seem to realize that they won't survive such an event.

See also: France, 1789
Seraphiel | 01.15.05 - 2:25 pm | #

I have been bombarding ABC, CBS and NBC news with daily emails pointing out the flaws, distortions and lies included in the Bushboy "privatization scam" of SS.

I keep asking them to invite celebrated and prestigious economists like Paul Krugman or Henry Aaron (no relation to the baseball player) to appear as a spokesman for the anti-Bushboy SS plan.

So far none of these stations have allowed anyone on except the goons and thugs pushing the Bushboy "privatization scam."

Nothing like a "free press!"
Rudy | 01.15.05 - 2:27 pm | #

I would bet my net worth that if Bushboy were given a test about how Social Security works and what the impact of his "private accounts" would be on the system in the short and long range, he would have no idea how to respond, except with his usual bromides about "it will save the system" etc...

With Bushboy it's not a matter of being empirically or mathematically correct. It's all about his paramount agenda: making the rich richer.

That's really his only religion although he plays a "Christian" on TV.
Rudy | 01.15.05 - 2:32 pm | #

seriously...can i sue ss for all the funds i've paid in over the last twenty-three years? if there's one thing i've learned from the maladministration's talking points, it's my money.

i love that 50,000 out of 64,000 ss employees are against privatization. that sounds like a mandate to me.

bush must have a death wish. if i were him, i'd ban guns before i did any of this stuff.
type 4 | 01.15.05 - 2:49 pm | #

This name, "Zephyr Teachout" - Is that
a made-up name like Whoopi Goldberg?

What is it with this name?!?
Hedley Lamarr | 01.15.05 - 2:51 pm | #

Earlier today I wrote about how the Dems need to get inside BushCo's OODA loop. Alas, they still suck at it.
NTodd | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 2:58 pm | #

from my official social security statement received last week:

"the social security system is facing serious future financial problems,and action is needed soon to make sure that the system is sound when today's younger workers are ready for retirement..." it goes on and on like this...
future man | 01.15.05 - 3:04 pm | #

What's the deal big deal? This kind of stuff happens all the time...

-
Ahmad Chalabi | 01.15.05 - 3:07 pm | #

And the Republicans don't seem to realize that they won't survive such an event.

Nice one, Seraphiel.
Nur al-Cubicle | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 3:16 pm | #

We don't just need outrage, we need action. This is not a movie we're all watching. Who's raising hell?

I guess it's up to you and me. This is the AARP hotline for contacting YOUR REPS about this latest travesty:

1-800-307-8525

Please call. Do something! The Democrats are listening.
action | 01.15.05 - 3:17 pm | #

Good, readable article in NYT Sunday magazine by Roger Lowenstein which shows just how full of shit Bush is.
bob h | 01.15.05 - 3:35 pm | #

Bush wants to save Social Security by destroying it.

Sounds like the same plan for 'liberating' Iraq.

We need to put together his lies about the 'crisis' in pre-war Iraq with his 'crisis' in Social Security.

It's the boy with the long nose who fooled us once when he cried wolf.

Won't get fooled again.
KG Prophet | 01.15.05 - 3:42 pm | #

This serious, Josh is right when he says:

"They trangress every limit, every rule...The White House is intent on making this into a fight about what the country is."

He gives out the link to write a complain to SSA:

http://www.ssa.gov/feedback/comp.../ complaints.htm

No more games, we need to start making calls and sending out e-mails.

They need to be stopped.
Joe | 01.15.05 - 3:42 pm | #

Here's the key sentence in the entire article:

Social Security officials say the agency is carrying out its mission to educate the public, including more than 47 million beneficiaries, and to support the agenda of President Bush.

The mission of SSA is supposed to be administering benefits. Since when has "supporting the agenda of President Bush" become a part of the SSA mission? Why are my tax dollars being spent to "support the agenda of President Bush" through an agency whose only mission is supposed to be serving the workers who pay into, and retirees who draw benefits from, Social Security?

I'm leaning more and more towards a general tax revolt - we are being taxed without representation by crooks and embezzlers who illegally siphon off the taxes we pay into whatever nefarious scheme they favor at the moment. And there is no accountability; no one ever is punished or even has to pay back what they've stolen.

Funny how the rightwing tax ranters can get all worked up over a measly $200 tax "cut" (loan) but not bat an eyelash over paying a tax premium so their Republican overlords can skim from the till.
Jennifer | 01.15.05 - 3:45 pm | #

Message sent to the Social Security Administration:

To Whom It May Concern:

How dare the Social Security Administration use the money I have contributed for my retirement to promote the scheme of Wall Street bankers (also known as the Bush cartel's scheme) whose intent is to deprive me and those who follow after me of the secured pension that until now I trusted was guaranteed to me. It is after all the Social Security Trust Fund - not the Destroy Social Security Propaganda Fund.
I refuse to pay for propaganda. I refuse to take this sitting down. I will work to see that any administrator or lackey who supports this vile use of my money is hauled before a court of law and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Shame on you!
zepper | 01.15.05 - 3:49 pm | #

Bush claims that private donations are paying for the inauguarl expenses. Guess who the largest, private contributors are? You guessed it! Wall Street Big Wigs who will benefit immensly from privatizing Social Security.
Mad as Hell | 01.15.05 - 4:38 pm | #

Agree with the above--is it too much to hope that SOME democrats will be out there on the weekend shows, and in front of any other available cameras, yelling "They are spending TAXPAYER MONEY to spread LIES about Social Security?"
Ash | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 5:11 pm | #

IMPEACH THE CHIMP
Ottnott | 01.15.05 - 5:18 pm | #

Bush has been light on details and in fact has failed to enumerate steps that might constitute a plan to save Social Security. Thanks to the magic of the Internets records of his first attempt at destroying Social Security are here and my post about it is there.
George Johnston | Homepage | 01.15.05 - 5:59 pm | #

You can send comments on proposed SSA regulations to:

regulations@ssa.gov.
Ripley | 01.15.05 - 6:23 pm | #

The system has always been pay-as-you-go. It's a Ponzi scheme from the start. Whether we have private accounts or public funding, the taxes always seem to increase markedly every 20 years. I don't know what to do with this mess. Bush is tinkering to make the rich even richer... maybe that's provable, but the voice of reason was killed in the 2000 election.

All I know is that when I was 19 and made $6,000 that year, FICA bit me in the ass for about $650 just when I needed it most GRAVELY for survival. People who make less than $15,000 a year now shouldn't have to pay. The rich want flat taxes, well, that should apply to Social Security too. Let the destitute pay nothing, let the rich pay their fair share.
Reality Check Bouncer | 01.15.05 - 8:35 pm | #

Kill Social Security? Someone please kill Bush!
Terry C | 01.15.05 - 9:30 pm | #

"This name, "Zephyr Teachout" - Is that
a made-up name like Whoopi Goldberg?"

"Zephyr" rhymes with "heifer."
Terry C | 01.15.05 - 9:31 pm | #

"He doesn't understand what happened to the mass of society, never read Zola or Hugo, or the US muckrackers, hasn't looked under the bridges or in the old folks' home, never read the biography of Fiorello LaGuardia."

All that thar fancy book larnin' is fer furriners and pointy headed librul 'litists.

Besides, if the Preznit read all that stuff, when he would have time for important stuff....like golf?
Terry C | 01.15.05 - 9:33 pm | #

Baby wolves ate my social security check; are they the same wolves Bush warned me would attack is Kerry was elected?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Aher-her-her.
Jon R. Koppenhoefer | 01.16.05 - 3:24 am | #

And don't forget, SS is unfair to black men because they die sooner.
I about shit when Chicken George said that. Like he gives a fuck.
merl | 01.16.05 - 6:56 am | #

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