In his weekly address, President Obama pledged that he firmly opposes privatization of Social Security, declaring, "That agenda is wrong for seniors, it's wrong for America, and I won't let it happen. Not while I'm President." The President empathetically added:
"Because you shouldn't be worried that a sudden downturn in the stock market will put all you've worked so hard for - all you've earned - at risk. You should have the peace of mind of knowing that after meeting your responsibilities and paying into the system all your lives, you'll get the benefits you deserve."
All well and good, of course, but after the erraticism of Wall Street returns over the last two years, no one seriously believes that Social Security privatization legislation has a snowball's-chance-in-hell of passing Congress, much less be signed into law by President Obama.
Pledging to fight for Social Security, though, is a dandy election year strategy, especially if it makes the opposition look frighteningly bad.... which is naturally what Mr. Obama entoned:
"... some Republican leaders in Congress don't seem to have learned any lessons from the past few years. They're pushing to make privatizing Social Security a key part of their legislative agenda if they win a majority in Congress this fall."
The truth is that the biggest threat today to Social Security is the President's own Deficit Commission, which, like Dick Cheney's secretive Energy Task Force policy-writing, operates entirely under public radar. Explains Glenn Greenwald in a smart Salon.com article:
" The true threat to Social Security is Obama's Deficit Commission, which has inexcusably been working in total secrecy throughout the year, cooking up its recommendations to be released in December and likely to be voted on by Congress once the elections are nice and over with."From the start, that Commission was stacked with people from both parties with a long history of advocating for serious cuts in benefits. The Democratic co-Chair, Erskine Bowles, worked a decade ago with Newt Gingrich to try to privatize Social Security when he was Clinton's Chief of Staff, and in 1998, was hailed by Business Week as 'Corporate America's Friend in the White House.'"
Here's my fear: Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign begins on November 3, 2010, the day after mid-term elections. Given his sagging approval ratings, ever-ambitious Mr. Obama will do anything... anything... to curry favor with economic-minded Independents and moderate Republicans, and that includes throwing Social Security under the proverbial bus.
The President's brief words over the weekend were intriguing when he cleverly recommitted to FDR's goal of "assuring generations of America's seniors that after a lifetime of hard work, they'd have a chance to retire with dignity." Mr. Obama then went on to coyly remark:
"I'm committed to working with anyone, Democrat or Republican, who wants to strengthen Social Security. I'm also encouraged by the reports of serious bipartisan work being done on this and other issues in the fiscal commission that I set up several months ago."
All we're getting from President Obama on Social Security these days is secretiveness, utter intransparency, and clever, coy, politically cute remarks.
Liberals, don't be afraid, but do be wary. Be fiercely diligent. And be energized, vocal advocates for Social Security.
Because if we're not, Mr. Obama absolutely will throw Social Security under the bus for the sake of his own political ambitions... just as he most famously did to the public plan option in health care reform, and in so many other unnecessary but politically profitable "compromises."
I reommend that you read President Obama Says NO Privatization of Social Security, followed by The Fear Campaign and Social Security at Salon.com.
Comments