"I Want My Safety Net!" ( Why Bush will fail along with New Dems on SS!)

[KoKo]

A Long read but a MUST READ FOR FOLKS OVER 45. It's really an exceptional article in that it discusses ALL the political factions trying to destroy a safety net that we all have relied on. Also talks about how White Males/Suburbanites and others are TOTALLY AGAINST what BUSH/REPUGS are proposing along with the Heritage Foundation to take away our "safety net."

Seems the tide is turning against Norquist's "making government so small we can drown it in a bathtub.

CAUTION: This is a long article. Maybe print it out and read it at Breakfast or sometime when you have some extra minutes. I wasn't sorry I spent the time with it. Lots of "political food for thought, here."

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I Want My Safety Net"

By Lee Walczak and Richard S. Dunham, with Mike McNamee in Washington and Ann Therese Palmer in Chicago
BusinessWeek Online

Why so many Americans aren't buying into Bush's Ownership Society.

George Silli, a 66-year-old waiter from suburban Philadelphia, had a brush with President Bush's Ownership Society, and it was an experience he'll not soon forget. Silli's psyche and his wallet still bear the scorch marks of the 2000 market meltdown. He saw the value of his mutual funds drop by 60% and is convinced that opening Social Security to individual investing would produce similar results on a massive scale. ``If people are left to their own devices, we'll become top-heavy with poor people,'' Silli says.

A political independent, Silli has learned enough about the market to be pessimistic about a small fry's chances. He not only wants to leave Social Security alone but also thinks politicians should expand entitlements by mandating near-universal health insurance as a shield against soaring medical bills.

Although Silli may not know it, he has plenty of company from all walks of American life. He's part of a diverse group that includes the pathologically risk-averse and those who are willing to take the Ownership Society for a spin -- as long as it's equipped with air bags.

(Much more of this article with examples of Repugs, too.)

http://biz.yahoo.com/special/pension05_article2.html

[ailsagirl]

1. Thanks for the post... I'll print it out and give it a read. n/t

[KoKo]

2. kick.........