Netroots Nation, a conference of, shall we say, "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party," is under way. The AFL-CIO Now Blog reports on one session:
One attendee of the Netroots Nation panel provocatively titled “Obama’s Social Security ‘Death Panel’” later told me he had gone into the panel dubious that there is any real threat to Social Security. “But I left mad,” he said, questioning how such an important part of America’s social fabric could be threatened. Yet as the panelists detailed, Social Security is most definitely under attack–and it’s an attack that could fundamentally alter how we understand the program. ...
Robert Borosage of Campaign for America’s Future contrasted the “frightened, timid and cautious leadership” of today with the “confident society” that, following World War II, responded to a much larger deficit (as percentage of GDP) by embarking on a series of spending programs that reshaped the economy and built the middle class.Today, Borosage said, there is an emerging elite consensus that is “focused on Social Security because it will show they’re ’serious,’ even though it will have no effect on the deficit.” They portray Social Security as being in crisis, then claim that proposed cuts are “saving” the program. ...
"spending programs that reshaped the economy and built the middle class".
ReplyDeleteI'm not a historian but i suspect manufacturing built the middle class. If politicians want cuts or cost savings,start with their salaries and salaries of highly paid government workers.($100,000 and up)
Manufacturing created or spurred by the new interstate highway system and the auto and housing boom that resulted, plus cold war defense spending, plus construction for all the new colleges populated by GI Bill beneficiaries, plus the space race. Etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd even before that, labor peace courtesy of Truman and the Democratic Congress that brought sharp increases in wages for blue-collar workers, and a boom in federal civilian employment.
No, the federal government had nothing to do with the post-war boom. ::rollseyes::
Nah, Federal salaries being cut are the solution to the deficit. When is this jerkoff going to be banned?
ReplyDelete