Elect a Republican, kill Social Security?

Social Security Is on the Ballot Next Week
Dean Baker
t r u t h o u t

With the Congressional elections fast approaching, one issue that has received remarkably little attention is Social Security. While it is understandable that the public would attach a higher priority to ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Social Security has barely registered a blip in public opinion surveys on the list of issues on voters' minds.

Perhaps this is because the public thinks that the battle to protect Social Security has already been won. Two years ago, President Bush put the full political force of his administration behind an effort to privatize Social Security. Thanks to a massive organizing drive led by the AFL-CIO, AARP, the Campaign for America's Future and thousands of local groups around the country, the drive to privatize Social Security was beaten back...

...But this story is history at the moment. Over the last few weeks, President Bush has repeatedly said that he intends to bring back his plans to privatize Social Security if the Republicans maintain control of Congress. Since he has raised this issue on several different occasions, in different contexts, presumably it was not a slip of the tongue. We should take President Bush at his word - if the Republicans win the elections next week, then he will again try to privatize Social Security.

Voters must understand this fact when they go to cast their ballots. They should know where the candidates stand on Social Security privatization. Toward this end, the media should be pressing candidates to present their view of Social Security privatization, and the activists who led the campaign in 2005 should again be raising the issue in every public forum available...

Read the whole thing.