Even Reagan Understood THIS

I hated Ronald Reagan.

He was the first of a run of Republican presidents to whom I could not even stand to listen when he spoke.  His demeanor and cadence spoke of a man who had limited knowledge and insight of the position to which he had been elected; of a man who got where he was and "led" the country by pandering to the emotions and ignorance of the cross section of Americans who would vote for whoever their pastor or their boss or their neighbor told them to vote for.  (In fact, the pastor of the church I attended at the time told us to go to the polls on Tuesday and "vote for the Ronald Reagan of your choice."  From the pulpit.)  I was a Christian at the time, and I remember additionally hating Reagan because of his habit of embracing Christian-friendly policies like pro-lifism during his campaigns, and dropping them like the political hot rock they were as soon as he won the election.

But as stupid and pandering as Reagan was, he nevertheless had a shrewd understanding of American politics.  In the 1980's, American workers still had political power and worth, and Social Security was a sacred cow.  So Reagan knew better than to piss off that large voting bloc by demonizing Social Security, regardless of pressure from right-wing business interests to do so.

Big business and the GOP have been set upon destroying Social Security--along with any and every other provision of Roosevelt's everyman-friendly New Deal--from the day of its inception.  It has taken them 70 years, but they have finally driven Social Security to the brink of extinction through a decdades-long campaign of lies, chicanery and theft.

Let's be clear, friends:  The GOP's 70-year-long campaign against Social Security has nothing to do with the deficit, or some kind of moral objections to "entitlements," or indeed, ANY laudable or "fiscally responsible" policy.  Republicans have been anti-Social Security since its inception because it's a TAX that businesses must pay.  If you have employees, you pay Social Security TAX for them; you can't deduct or finagle or red-tape or off-shore your way around it. 

And American businesses don't think they should have to pay ANY tax.  EVER.

The GOP is now going about the business of monkeying with the benefit process of Social Security.  The House is proposing changes that will greatly reduce the benefits while exponentially complicating the application process and red-tape involved with accessing the benefit.  With the intended end result, I'm sure, that in ten years, maybe less, Social Security will be of so little value that people will no longer care if it goes away.

And that will be that.

And my husband and I will be spending our "Golden Years" living in a cardboard box under an overpass.