Yikes! Democrats are protecting Social Security!

Well, Social Security is under attack again, and the attacks are serious, even more so now that Democrats are in power. Paul Krugman put up a good column today.

A lot of the Beltway establishment has a thing about Social Security — in a way, by the way, they don’t have a thing about Medicare, which is a vastly more important long-run problem. No matter how much you talk logic or numbers, they’re obsessed with the idea that Social Security must be cut; as I wrote back when, somewhere back in the 90s talking tough on Social Security became a badge of seriousness, and facts just can’t make a dent in that social convention.

Indeed, facts don’t matter, but action does. And we need serious action now to once again save the program from predators.

In my time, the first serious attack on the program came in the early 1980’s when Ronald Reagan was president. It was full frontal, and failed miserably. They quickly learned that the program was extremely popular, that it was a third rail. They backed off, and did two things:1) Using JuJitsu, they instituted the largest tax increase in history, applied solely against working people and retirees receiving benefits; 2) they set out to convince the younger generation that the program could not be sustained, and that they would never receive benefits. (Most youth that I have talked to echo that choice bit of propaganda.)

The next, and more serious attack,came in the late 1990’s, when Bill Clinton was president. As revealed by aides after he left office, he was set to spring a secret privatization plan on us, and it had gone so far as to have measurements be made of the amount of keyboard input time would be necessary to set up the new private accounts. Fortunately for all of us, Clinton is a sleazeball, and his presidency was jeopardized by the Monica scandal. To shore up support, he needed to rally his base, and so became a champion of the program. The “Lock Box” was created.

But it was close. Too close.

The next attack came from George W. Bush in 2005. He said he was going to spend some “political capital” to privatize the program. But since he was perceived as a right wing Republican, and since he had very little capital, it was easy to mount opposition, and the plan quietly died.

We are in trouble now, serious trouble. One, a Democrat is in office, and two, his administration is offering assurances that the program is safe. Assurances are nothing more than a disarming tactic. As with the Public Option, the linchpin of health care reform, Democrat assurances are probably meant to forestall ground-level organization. They will then, in Clinton fashion, spring on us the fully developed privatization plan.

These are Democrats. I may not know much, but I know Democrats.They are far, far more dangerous than Republicans. Now is the time to join organizations that exist to prot3ectSocial Security, and spend what money and effort you can for that cause.

MoveOn is running a campaign.

National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare Preserve

Preserve Your Social Security

And, of course, write to your representative and senators. Be polite but firm. Tell them that the issue is important, that if they betray trust, you will vote for their opponent in the next election. (That makes your one vote into two.) It takes courage to vote for a Republican to punish a Democrat, but it is easier to unite against Republicans. Only Democrats can undermine Democrats.