WILL DEMOCRATS AND PROGRESSIVES STEP UP AND SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY?

Cartoon published when Bush 43 was peddling the idea of privatizing Social Security.  Where are the Democrats now?

A familiar story is brewing in our nation's capital.

Washington, D.C.--  On one side are conservatives and the Blue Dog Democrats. Most of them supported Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy and two unfunded wars. Eight long years of Republican and conservative ideology is responsible for our national debt today. 

The GOP belief system has nothing to do with rational analysis.  The main tenet is that imposing suffering on the weak and poor is somehow showing leadership in tough economic times.  And now, they say, we have to focus on the deficit— even if it means cutting Social Security and leaving millions of Americans jobless for years. (See related story about economist Paul Krugman's NYT op-ed.)

On the other side are progressives who agree we have to rein in our deficits, but think we should do it in a way that protects the middle class and makes Wall Street clean up its own mess.

Here's the scary part-- the conservatives are winning hands down. They're spending millions of dollars to push their position and hoping that the president's new deficit commission—which is stacked with conservatives—will strike a deal to cut Social Security before the end of the year.

If we're going to have a shot at slowing down this right-wing runaway train, we need to start dealing with the deficit the right way— by getting the middle class back on their feet and making Wall Street pay its fair share. This attack on Social Security and working families must be stopped dead in it's tracks.

Social Security belongs to the American people, who pay into it every working day of our lives. But this election could determine whether conservative budget hawks finally have their way and make deep cuts to our benefits.
And there is a disturbing pattern of conservative fear-mongering on Social Security that is ramping up each day. Most recently it was Republican Leader, John Boehner followed by several other Republican congressmen. And before that former Senator Alan Simpson, the head of a commission that will make recommendations on Social Security this fall, called Americans who rely on Social Security "lesser people." Utah Senator Orin Hatch wants to go as far as drug testing unemployed people.

We need to push back on the lies about Social Security, hold politicians who want to cut it accountable, and get progressive solutions to the deficit—like a bold job creation program or making sure corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes— on the table. It is time for labor activists to roll up their sleeves and get to work to protect what is ours.