Posted on 01/04/2005 5:07:06 PM PST by Pikamax
Centrists to Oppose Bush Social Security Plan By Ronald Brownstein Times Staff Writer
3:28 PM PST, January 4, 2005
WASHINGTON — Two groups of prominent Democratic centrists plan to oppose the centerpiece of President Bush's proposal to restructure Social Security, potentially dimming the administration's hope of building bipartisan support for its top domestic priority.
The Democratic Leadership Council, the party's leading centrist organization, and Third Way, a new group working with moderate Senate Democrats, expect to issue statements soon opposing Bush's proposal to divert part of the Social Security payroll tax into accounts that individuals could invest in the stock market, officials at the groups said.
The opposition is significant because both groups have aggressively argued that Democrats should not flatly resist changes in Social Security. Also, in the past, the DLC's think tank has backed the sort of private investment accounts Bush is promoting.
But both groups now are prepared to join party liberals in arguing that Bush's restructuring plan would exacerbate, rather than alleviate, Social Security's long-term financing problems.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Centrists, eh? In whose opinion?
Jeez the media bugs me the way they throw around labels (of course, no one is a "terrorist" ever.)
a "centrist" to the LATimes would be called STALIN here in the south!
That sounds goofy. Define the groups.
The only thing in the middle of the road are yellow lines and roadkill.
This article confirms that the Democratic Party has few if any centrists left amongst its ranks. Democrats are so proudly united in opposition to Bush, they do not sense that they are constantly inching away from the center and dooming their political fate. The knee-jerk opposition from Democrats is so automatic, I sometimes wonder if Bush took the opposite stance of what he wanted, he would get 100% Democrat support of his desired position. With the GOP "in on it", you could pass anything in the Senate. I'm being facetious of course, but this knee-jerk reflex on the Left should be exploited.
The plan is DOA, but Bush has nothing to lose by putting it forward and letting the Dems shoot it down. If the Dems can block it, then they get the blame when an even more drastic plan is enacted later on.
The plan isn't DOA. It is actually a pretty good move, strategically for the Republican Party.
By letting the Dems line up and try to shoot it down, they're setting the Dems up for another upsetting election in 2006, afterwhich the Republicans will control both the House and the Senate, with the majorities needed to pass legislation with little debate.
It is the will of the majority that something be done about Social Security. A lot of people like the opt-in, partial privatization that has been proposed. The Dems are betting the house and the donkey on the stupidity and gullibility of the American public. The last few times they made that bet they lost.
we have a 4 year window, and one intervening election... let's hope the conservative strategists are doing forward thinking, as it seems they have done in the recent past.
that's enough to make you gag, huh?
"centrist".
and they wonder why they lost the election.
The easy political response to this objection is to make private accounts voluntary. My guess is that the overwhelming majority of people under 40 would switch with two years.
The easiest way to make a reform is to eliminate the FICA tax and let the individual invest it in any way he wishes. I know this will disappoint you compassionate conservatives but this is the way retirement programs worked for the first century and a half of our country's history.
I think you're being overly optimistic. Until the young voters start to vote, and vote their own interest, this is going to be a plus for the Democrats. Hillary is going to demogogue it bigtime, and if she can win Florida, she's in.
Of course, I do agree that in the long run, it's the Democrats who will take the heat. I just don't think that it'll happen in time for the 08 election.
They oppose reforms because they hate President Bush #1 and #2 its something they want a Democratic President to get credit for. Its all about politics.
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