Bill Black: Wall Street's Plan to Push Obama to Betray Those Who Elected Him [View all]

[marmar]

Benzinga / By William K. Black

Wall Street's Plan to Push Obama to Betray Those Who Elected Him
Through its lobbying group Third Way and media mouthpieces, Wall Street is determined to destroy the social safety net.

November 8, 2012 |


The safety net is the glory of America and the unending nightmare of Wall Street. That why Wall Street’s leading “false flag” group, the Third Way (which calls itself a "leading moderate think tank&quot , has responded to the warnings that Robert Kuttner, AFL-CIO President Trumka, and I have made that if President Obama is re-elected our immediate task will be to prevent the Great Betrayal – the adoption of self-destructive austerity programs and the opening wedge of the effort to unravel the safety net (including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid).

Here's what you need to know about this plan to rob Americans of their future.

1. Both Democrats and Republican Oppose Cuts to the Safety Nets

Huge majorities of Americans oppose cuts in the safety nets: A majority of Republicans oppose such cuts and Democrats overwhelmingly oppose the cuts. The American people love the safety net because they know it is essential to a humane America. They know that it has transformed the nation. Before Social Security, older Americans were frequently reduced to poverty and dangerously inadequate health care that made the remainder of their lives dangerous and miserable.

The safety net does not cover only the elderly and the sick. My father, for example, died when I (the eldest of three children) was 19 and a sophomore at the University of Michigan. Even though in-state tuition was inexpensive in those days, I would have had to drop out of school. Survivors’ benefits allowed me to obtain a superb education and pay back the nation with service and decades of greater taxes because education increased y income. Food stamps and unemployment insurance frequently provide the temporary support that prevent tragedy and allow Americans to obtain useful education and jobs. The safety net has made America a nation we are proud of and a nation that makes it possible for Americans to recover from hard times and tragedy and to lead lives that are vastly more productive and enjoyable.

2. Only a Democrat Can Make It Politcally Safe for GOP Pols to Unravel the Net

One of the most important reasons that more Americans support the Democratic Party than the Republican Party is that the Democratic Party is viewed as the Party that created and guards the safety net. The elements of the safety net are the crown jewels of Democratic Party policy successes. .......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/wall-streets-plan-push-obama-betray-those-who-elected-him