Crooks and Liars » The Situation Room: Pushing White House Memes On Social Security
"CNN clearly is gunning for FOXNews’ spot as the propaganda department for the White House and Wall Street. Why else would they need to introduce a segment on the various candidates’ stances on Social Security thusly?:
Voters know that Social Security is a financial time bomb that needs fixing. The latest government calculation is that the system will go bust—be out of money– in 2041. So voters paying in want something done.
Um, no. For the record, Social Security is not a time bomb–nice imagery, CNN. Common sense tells you that–if left alone (granted, a huge IF)–there will always be more people paying into Social Security than SSI is paying out, even with the baby boomer generation. It’s a self-sustaining system as FDR designed it. You know who wants you to believe that there is a financial crisis? The Bush White House obviously, but also their cronies on Wall Street, just rubbing their collective hands in anticipation of getting a hold on private accounts to manage.
To keep furthering the false memes, CNN interviews a Giuliani supporter who doesn’t believe that Social Security will be available to him (maybe because you keep telling him that, CNN?) and goes through first the Republican candidates’ support for Bush’s private accounts either in toto or in part. The Democratic candidates? They “just want to raise taxes” (hmmm…taking our framing from Grover Norquist again?). Technically correct, but definitely a Republican framing of raising the cap on income from its current cap of $90,000 a year. As it stands, the person who makes $1,000,000/ year pays the same payroll tax as the person who makes $95,000. Imagine the benefits of lifting the cap.
But giving the general populace (and more importantly in this election year, the electorate) the real facts so that they can make decisions that will be in their best interests, well, that just wouldn’t be newsworthy, would it, CNN?"
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