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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Augustus Gloop who wrote (62168)	10/21/2004 10:24:44 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 89467

I have a friend who works for SS. Two years ago she told me it was funded for decades to come. She says now things change "weekly" due to the uncertainty of the current administration. Bush had been set to privatize SS, and then the market tanked, then 9/11 hit, and it tanked harder. I thought that was the end of the privatizing notion. Here it is again, though. I think it can only lead to disaster. You mention 15.3 percent to be paid by the employee. Actually the employer pays half that amount currently. Is Bush's plan going to be mandatory? If privatized pension plans fail, will they be covered like Long Term Capital Group was? I doubt it. Health care costs have skyrocketed relative to income during Bush's tenure. You've probably noticed. Gasoline prices have almost doubled where I live. Ouch. We have a war draining our resources. Halliburton makes billions - our tax dollars, while our troops have to share protective equipment, or as in the case of those 18 who "mutinied", there was no protective gear at all. You may want to blame Kerry for this. That's not right. Locally, our Congressman Peter De Fazio got the gear for troops who requested it. His opponent has been using the same bush smear tactics in his ad as Bush/Cheney. No one is buying it. Republicans and Democrats alike have seen this man work hard for his constituents, work hard for this country. He's a veteran, too! He voted against the $87 billion, but this was NOT a vote against our troops. Something was seriously stinky about that bill. Here's the future I envision under Bush, privatized pension plans run by his croneys whose only vested interests are their own. I believe Cheney will carry out his aborted plan to privatize water, maybe even air. We saw the Enron debacle Cheney helped foist on CA....outrageous overcharges for phantom energy. Then there were the corporate scandals and malfeasant accounting practices - yes they began under Clinton at the behest of Lieberman, but that problem still looms. When PGE declared bankruptcy two years ago, they screwed their investors. An hour before they declared bankruptcy, the CEOS paid themselves millions in bonuses! And they've given themselves TWO more since! including bonuses down to the lowliest employees - $5,000 each! while Californians are forced to suck up rate hikes and pay exorbitant restoral fees should they lose their power. This is not evidence of solving the corporate problems. In fact, corporations have had a windfall of tax relief from Bush. Have you. Has that $600 or $800 rebate solved anything for you? Just today, some airline was reporting employees will be taking an 18% pay cut, and their retirement will be reduced or cut. It's happening all over - for those who HAVE jobs. People continue to lose their jobs. Sure the unemployment rolls are down, but that's because it has run out for many, many folks - people who have lost everything, whose future looks as bleak as any Iraqi's present. What happened to this country, so full of hope just a few years ago. NO, 9/11 is not THE reason for this. Bush is the reason we're losing hope, jobs, health care and our future. And we know that because the tired old line of "it's Clinton's fault" has disappeared. It's Bush's fault. And you may think I'm painting a dark, dreary picture of a bleak future because I am a Democrat. And you may think I'm wrong. But from two years ago on, I posted repeatedly warning of all of the messes that would come as a result of Bush's misbegotten war in Iraq over at FADG. I warned about gas price increases. I warned that the war would be a disaster. I said it was wrong and I've been proven right. I don't want to be right again about a future with Bush as our president. I want to see Kerry as president. And he wants to be president because he believes, maybe knows, he can fix things. Why else would he wish to take on the biggest fiscal disaster ever and put up with the slings and arrows from the right while trying to right what's wrong with America. I believe he really cares. Anyway, that's my opinion. You may disagree, and you'd be in good company ~~ my daughter does as well. I know your son will have a great life. I want that for all of our children. Here's some advice - do NOT agree with everything he says. :)