This has become the President’s new rallying cry for those of us in the Heartland of America. For the past three weeks there has been a torrent of negative media unleashed against the President over his decision to show leadership on the issue of Social Security Reform. Even with all of the Inaugural activities Democrats on Capitol Hill and around the country are taking partisan potshots at the President and his plan, with little to offer but rhetoric.
The President’s proposals are logical and it makes convincing sense except to the liberal fringe of this nation that would like nothing better than to undermine the President’s initiative just because. Just because he won. Just because the President has a mandate, and just because it is being offered by the President and was not on the front burner of the Democrats or was not offered up by the great liberal leader Senator Ted Kennedy.
The problem that this presents is that this newest liberal scare machine is attempting to accomplish the same negative campaign successes with its below the belt punches that the liberals engaged in during the 1990s.
Of course you remember…The big bad Republicans in Congress were going to snatch away the Medicare benefits from seniors. We were tarred and feathered with that and liberals tied that to their venomous attacks on then House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Both became rallying cries for liberals and Democrats and gave birth to a new generation of Hollywood spokespersons who cut their teeth on ‘getting the Medicare GOP scalawags and using actors from Hollywood to vilify Newt.
This is why this deja vu we are experiencing is catching those of us who suffered through the mistruths the much needed ammunition we stored up from those often insufferable times.
I have been in many a political debate on this topic ever since the Reagan Presidency. This was when liberals would attack Republicans about being distant from the little guy, and not truly concerned about the viability of the Social Security system, because after all, aren’t all Republicans supposed to be rich fat cats? Aren’t Republicans supposed to leave those “people issues” to the other party?
Now it seems awfully incredulous to have Democrats lambasting the President and Republican leaders because Republicans and the President are the ones who want to repair the system before it goes into the red. What about the caring bleeding hearts that have so populated the Democratic Party? Where is Congressman Dick Gephardt when you need him?
Remember how he was the working man’s Democrat. He was so tied to the national union leadership coattails that when they caught a cold he got the flu. He would not be saying what Senator Ted Kennedy has been saying about waiting until the sky falls in on our children or grandchildren. To his credit he most likely would be joining President Bush and prevailing upon his fellow Democrats to do something about the problem now, not later.
Gephardt would have said that 2018 is a hard date, when the government will begin to pay out more in Social Security benefits than it takes in revenue and shortfalls then will grow larger with each passing year. He probably would have begun to twist some arms on his side of the aisle right about now.
What about 2042. It is a year that Democratic leaders in Congress are pointing to as the benchmark for the country to begin worrying about the failure of a Social Security system. Let’s take a closer look at this magical action date the Democrats point to as the beginning of the true crisis.
Well our children who are in their mid-20s will be beginning to retire then. And guess what, unless you have won a lotto or just happen to have gotten lucky at a casino, the young adults of today will retiring to a system that will be completely bankrupt. What a fine mess to hand over to our children and an even greater mess to leave the country in.
Why should Senator Teddy worry? In a little under 37 years, the magic hour of Democratic Angst or in layman’s terms, the witching hour for our kids…he’ll be close to 110 years-old…either too old to care…or just not around for the total shutdown of the system.
Of course this is a very dangerous game that the liberals in Congress are playing with the lives and futures of our children and grandchildren. I can tell you the callers to my daily radio show on WDTK 1400 AM in Detroit have tackled this issue head on. They spoke with passion to Bob McFadden who was representing the White House response on Social Security. He shared with my listeners his own story as he had shared it with the President earlier that week.
You see, if Bob’s family would have had the President’s plan in place nine years ago when his father suddenly died of a heart attack at 57, all of his siblings, his mother…his whole family would have been able to have taken advantage of his father’s Social Security benefits. This would have been a comfortable nest egg, which would have eased the loss.
Unfortunately his untimely death came at the worse possible moment. The family needed money and his younger brother was put at a severe disadvantage, as he was about to enter college. You see, this was additional unnecessary grief that the family was subjected to.
I understand that pain as well. I can tell you that the memory of the sudden loss of a parent never goes away. My father died suddenly at 55, and all of his many years of investment in the Social Security system, went right down the drain, and the little benefits that it provides children under 18 was indeed minimal. The President is right; Congress has to address this issue now.
When the President says that the people who are most vulnerable need help, the Democrats and liberals automatically raise their backs and say…the exact opposite and engage in their “Fear and Scare Campaign”.
As President Bush embarks upon his second term, we have to be right there with him and make certain that our friends, our family, our neighbors and most important our friends who might be Democrats…not the one’s in power who don’t get it, but the regular guys who honestly just don’t know and deserve to hear and read the truth, get the correct information
We have a saying at Salem Radio Network which my radio show is part of. The theme is “Nothing but the Truth”. That is what you must convey to those who don’t know.
For example, let your older friends who are either retired or nearing retirement that there will not be a change in Social Security for today’s retirees or near-retirees.
Secondly, The President wants to see Social Security permanently strengthened for our children and grandchildren, without raising payroll taxes or drastically slashing benefits.
The President favors voluntary personal accounts as part of a comprehensive solution to give younger workers the option to save some of these payroll taxes. Note, I said voluntary and an option being available. It would not be mandatory. That is key for you to remember when sharing with your associates who may be endeared with the liberal hype.
Thirdly,