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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (8298)	12/3/2000 10:42:17 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10042

my post was only talking about the Republicans. Well, I'd kinda gotten that from your postings.. I was just making sure that folks didn't fall prey to the fantasy that Gore, or his fellow democrat supporters, like Begala or Daley, are choir boys. Politics is an ugly business at any level. When the presidency of the US is the prize, it gets even uglier and good people are forced to play hardball. That's why I can't ever see myself running for office. I don't know if I have it in me to be the type of person to deliberately misrepresent blatant facts. I just wouldn't be able to keep a straight face and do it convincingly. And unfortunately, our media and the ignorance and superficiality of the American populace make it hard to deal with issues in a reasoned and intellectual manner. Social Security is a prime example of this. Gore demagogued the Bush plan to semi-privatize SS.. Outright scared the hell out of thousands of people as he weaved his intricate lies about how Bush wanted to take benefits away from little old ladies who already were forced to pick up beer cans for a living (of course, he didn't talk about the winnebago she owned, or the fact that her son was apparently quite wealthy and able to take care of her). The fact is that Bush's SS plan is based upon a bi-partisan plan that Bob Kerrey(John?) and a republican put together a couple of years which received favorable comments in the Senate from both sides. But Bush can't talk about the fact that SS, as it currently operates, is the grandest of ponzi schemes, one in which the US national debt actually increases during a time when we allegedly running a $230 billion surplus. Bush can't talk about it, because the more the public examines it, the more disconcerted they will become. All he can do is point out, correctly, that Gore would take that SSTF surplus, apply it to the government budget and spend it on entitlements. Entitlements that would have to be funded 10-20 years from now when the SSTF will be looking for that surplus in order to pay out liabilities to the retired baby boomers. Liabilities that the government will have to print money out of thin air (deficit spending) to pay for. Deficits that will have to be paid back by our posterity to the potential tune of $20-40 TRILLION (by some estimates that I've heard of). That's the facts of the matter on Social Security as it now stands Nadine. And Gore passes the buck on to future generations, while Bush is at least willing to convert a government entitlement program into a program where individuals possess individual assets that they own and can leave to their heirs. Regards, Ron