Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Graham Pulls A Fast One Bush RE: Social Security
Y'all know how BushCo has been pushing the bogus idea that the Democrats shouldn't reject Bush's plan until they come up with one of their own? And that they must work together with the Republicans to fashion a compromise plan to "fix" a program that isn't even sick? Guess what? According to Leilani on DU, who says she witnessed this on C-Span today:
Ha...it was beautiful. He crossed the aisle to join Kent Conrad, to work on Soc Sec. He proposed a budget amendment about the viability of the program, with the main provision, NO Benefit Cuts. Conrad approved & called for ALL Dems to join &vote AYE. Sen Boxer went to the floor & congragulated Graham & joined the discussion. Also gave the Dems a chance to say what a CHANGE this was..A Republican working with Dems. The vote was 100-0. The Republicans couldn't vote against it. I think Bush may order a fatwa against Lindsay Graham...the powers that be are not happy with him. Under LBN, Greenspan called for Benefit Cuts in Soc.Sec...now all the Republicans have voted against Benefit Cuts.Note how nicely Graham took the "but the Democrats are just yelling 'no' and not working with any Republicans on this!" bogosity and rendered it inoperative. Furthermore, he did it in such a way as to inoculate the Senate against having to consider any actual "compromise" plan that Bush would use to destroy Social Security. And consider this: to vote against any plan that would cut Social Security benefits is tantamount to opposing Bush's plans to privatize Social Security -- because even as Bush tells his Potemkin crowds that benefits won't be cut, he sends out his surrogates like Greenspan to insist that they must be cut. Greenspan may be willing to shill for Bush, but Graham and the other Republican officeholders would like to be able to win re-election. This is a not-so-subtle hint to Bush to back off on this issue, and to stay backed off on it.
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