Obstructing foul ideas

It's an Open-and-Shut Case

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-chait11mar11,1,3269014.column

Being willing to entertain the idea of ruining Social Security is no virtue.
By Jonathan Chait
March 11, 2005

In the Social Security debate, apparently the worst thing anybody can say about you is that you've made up your mind. A Washington Post editorial writer penned an Op-Ed article praising "the thoughtful voice of a Democrat not reflexively opposed to personal accounts." Joe Lieberman's spokesman piously insists the Connecticut senator is "still in a listening and learning stage and keeping an open mind." Well, good for him. But I've read several books and many articles advocating Social Security privatization, and it still strikes me as a horrible idea. Can I stop listening and learning now? Or must I remain thoughtfully agnostic while the same unconvincing arguments are repeated ad nauseam, in the hope that another repetition will finally sway me?

---

The full article is definitely worth a read. Also today’s posts at Talking Points Memo http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/ . The Republicans and their apologists are again with the ‘obstructionist’ labels. As pointed out at both links, the goal for the repugs is privitazation.
That’s a period at the end of the line. And they castigate the Democrats for not putting their own plan forward. Why, I ask.

Just raise the cap on earnings to $150,000, wait a few years, and see how that works. End of problem. And let's move on.

Number one. The last time I looked, both houses of Congress are controlled by the repugs. They can pass anything they want without Democratic help. They can set up their precious accounts, (by the way, on Friday, 3/11/05, the aggregate gain since 1/1/01 of the 4 major stock indexes was a whopping -3.9%, that’s minus) put it on the floor, and see what happens. By the way, speaking of plans, I haven’t seen one from the Republicans, and I sure haven’t seen one from the president bush, and he’s the one who brought this whole thing up. Conveniently after the election. So, why aren’t the pundits demanding them to lay their cards on the table.

Second. The Democrats would be foolish to fall into that trap. Even if they should be foolish enough to think they can negotiate with the Republicans on this issue, by the time it comes out of committee to reconcile the differing bills between the houses, it’s going to be the way the Republicans want it anyway. And they have the votes to pass the final bill. So, the Democrats will be standing there with their faces hanging out, unable to stop another rape of the American people. And they would have compromised their principles.

I’m sure that somebody must have noticed by now, that the vast majority of the American people don’t want any part of whatever plan the repugs, or the president bush have. And the more they learn, the less they want it. And, the vast majority of the American people are hoping that the Democrats stand firm on their principles on this issue. And, the vast majority of the American people are not demanding the Democrats “put a plan on the table”.

Something to keep in mind when the right-wing idiots start tossing out “obstructionism”, “dogmatic”, and “closed-minded” about. Remember, 2006 is just around the corner.