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This is how we win
Eliott Spitzer is the pitbull attorney general for the State of New York who isn't afraid to take on Wall Street crooks and liars. He's been prosecuting white collar criminals for years, much to the delight of people who actually work for a living, which is most of us.
Now Spitzer is running for governor of New York, and he has something to say about George W. Bush's ill-thought plan to privatize social security:"You have an administration that failed to protect investors. Failed to protect them. And yet they are the administration that is saying take the safety net that we have and invest it in a system that was fundamentally broken before others stepped in to try to save it," Spitzer said.
Sure they did. Bush's social security initiative is sinking fast, with a mere 30 percent approval rating, according to a recent Pew Poll. Spitzer, with his finger on the Rolex covered pulse of quaking Wall Street titans, knows precisely why: Americans may trust the former governor of Texas to manage The War Against Terror, but they still perceive the Prez as wholly owned subsidiary of corporate America. Enron, big oil, Halliburton and other shady business interests have all shot their DNA on the White House's pretty blue dress, and this time it isn't Clinton's fault.
"On the one hand, they are saying the system does not need to be fixed, there was nothing wrong with it, they fought against the changes that we wanted, and then they say, 'Take your savings and put it into that very system.' Where would we be if those who are retiring had had their money in Enron and Worldcom?"
A spokeswoman for the White House declined to comment.
The public's distrust of Bush's attack on social security reveals an deep fault line in the Republican base. For the past 20 years, the GOP has benefitted by an unholy alliance between social conservatives who criticize the entertainment culture, and the corporate interests that produce and fund the culture. It's always been easy for the Republican faithful to rationalize bad corporate behavior as "just business", especially when it's the Republican leadership that seems sympathetic to cultural issues, and not the Democrats.
But in social security, Spitzer and other wise heads have found an issue that can redefine corporate excess. It's one thing to be embarrassed by Will and Grace. Quite another to have your retirement nest egg pilfered by a cabal of Wharton grads you will never meet.
Inside Heraldlbog
Just added Site Meter to my blog. Noticed that somebody visited after Googling "free" + "Inside Paris Hilton"
Sorry. But I do have free Gmail invites!
5.3.05 17:43