Bush Ignores American Public, Pledges to Privatize Social Security

by James Parks, Jun 28, 2006

Even though polls show the public strongly opposes privatizing Social Security, which would force huge benefit cuts and turn Social Security’s guarantee into a gamble, President George W. Bush and his Republican allies in Congress plan to dredge up the plan again. Joshua Micah Marshall on Talking Points Memo highlighted a speech Bush delivered yesterday to the far-right wing Manhattan Institute in which Bush again places privatization of Social Security on the front burner for the remainder of his administration.

Here’s part of what Bush said about privatizing Social Security:

Now is the time for the Congress and the President to work together to reform Medicare and reform Social Security so we can leave behind a solvent balance sheet for our next generation of Americans.

If we can’t get it done this year, I’m going to try next year. And if we can’t get it done next year, I’m going to try the year after that, because it is the right thing to do.

The AFL-CIO, Alliance for Retired Americans and other allied groups, led a huge campaign last year to tell Congress to stop Bush’s plans to privatize Social Security and strengthen it instead. The mobilization generated hundreds of thousands of messages to lawmakers and saw demonstrations around the country telling Wall Street to keep its hands off Social Security.

Says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney:

It seems President Bush and his right wing allies in Congress march to their own relentless drumbeat when it comes to dismantling the retirement security of America’s working families—and serving the interests of Wall Street.

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