Posted on 10/23/2004 10:40:30 AM PDT by forest
We're getting close to Election Day 2004 and the Kerry campaign is feeling the stress. Even with 90% of the media acting like an arm of the Kerry campaign, Kerry is still losing.
Of course, Kerry's neighbor (at one of his mansions), a fellow named George Soros, got himself into the act by contributing about $18-million to the socialist committees of darkness in the background. The dark side thought they could use the money to defeat Bush this year by being extremely negative. Silly Soros, all he did was make a few political pikers rich. Oh, and it went far to prove just how much of a scam that Campaign Finance Reform Act really is.
According to the Wall Street Journal last week[1], "John Kerry got things going over the weekend with an accusation that President Bush is planning a 'January surprise' to 'privatize' Social Security. And, right on time, his campaign is rolling out an ad that claims Mr. Bush 'has a plan that cuts Social Security benefits by 30% to 45%.'"
John Kerry is rather ignorant on his own, to be sure. But, in the case of those ridiculous Social Security statements, Kerry had a little help from Bob Shrum, who pulled the same stupid tactic while advising Gore.
As the Wall Street Journal adeptly pointed out, Kerry "certainly hasn't left himself much room for leadership. His campaign Web site says: 'As president, John Kerry will not raise Social Security taxes, raise the retirement age, cut benefits for people that rely on Social Security or privatize Social Security.' These promises simply can't all be kept. There is a choice to be made."
Kerry, of course, has a record on Social Security we can look into. To start with, Kerry missed 36 of 38 votes on Medicare reform and prescription drug benefits, including the final vote on the bill. So, we must assume these topics are not among his major interests. Nonetheless, Kerry somehow found the time to vote five times for a formula that required Medicare premium increases. Yes, and it's that very same 17% increase in Medicare premiums starting next year Kerry was harping about -- blaming Bush. Well, Kerry voted for the Balanced Budget act of 1997 that mandated the increase. The Clinton/Kerry tax hike on Social Security benefits increased taxes on seniors making as little as $34,000 per year.
Kerry always seems to be able to show up for work for a tax increase vote. So, let's look how Kerry really wants to "fix" Social Security -- based on his actual record:
Back in 1996, Kerry called for raising the retirement age, means-testing benefits, lifting the cap on payroll taxes, and lowering COLA increases. In 1998, Kerry said we should spend the surplus on other government programs, not give Social Security any additional funds, and instead make it solvent by lowering COLA increases. In 2004, Kerry said of Republican plans for taking action and reform: "No, I rejected that. We looked at that and we found that we don't have to do it."
As it turns out, John Kerry voted for higher taxes on Social Security benefits eight times: Including, twice for Clinton's $241 billion tax hike and three times to keep the Social Security tax hike in the Clinton budget.
I may never agree with every little thing proposed by the Republicans on this issue (never have), but at least the ideas proposed by President Bush stand a good chance of working.
I believed President Bush when he told a huge crowd in New York (and 28-million on TV): "We will always keep the promise of Social Security for our older workers. With the huge Baby Boom generation approaching retirement, many of our children and grandchildren understandably worry whether Social Security will be there when they need it. We must strengthen Social Security by allowing younger workers to save some of their taxes in a personal account -- a nest egg you can call your own, and government can never take away."
Unlike with Kerry, President Bush understands the problem and means to make some constructive changes. There will be no "January Surprise" from the Bush administration. It will be a correction that argues its way through Congress over weeks. Which means, we all get to kibitz some.
On the other hand, don't be surprised to hear Kerry change his story on Social Security two more times before the election. That's the problem: We cannot pin him down on anything because he keeps changing his story.
1. <http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110005777>
For those ridiculous Social Security statements, ignorant Kerry got help from Shrum, who pulled the same stupid tactic while advising Gore.
Wall Street Journal: Kerry certainly hasn't left himself much room for leadership.
As Senator, Kerry missed most votes on issues he now trumps. But Kerry voted for higher taxes on Social Security benefits eight times.
There will be no "January Surprise" from Bush on Social Security.
Expect Kerry to change his story on Social Security two more times before the election.
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