Alter: Bush must "couch his radical SS reform in the guise of saving it"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

The Bush Deal
FDR’s Social Security program remains so popular that the president must couch his radical reform pitch in the guise of saving it

By Jonathan Alter
Newsweek
Updated: 3:16 p.m. ET Feb. 17, 2005

Feb. 17 - President Bush’s overhaul of Social Security isn’t going well right now, but it’s important to remember that he is playing a long game that is less attuned to daily or weekly news cycles than to what he hopes are the cycles of history. At issue is nothing less than the repeal of the whole idea behind the New Deal.

Peter Wehner, a key White House strategist, put it this way in a recent memo: “For the first time in six decades, the Social Security battle is one we can win—and in doing so, we can help transform the political and philosophical landscape of the country.” The White House wasn’t happy this leaked; it is claiming publicly with Orwellian logic that Bush wants simply to update the New Deal. But the history of this debate says otherwise.

The New Deal entered the language during Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president in 1932. It was originally just a catch-all phrase for his vaguely liberal platform, but soon took on a distinct ideological meaning.

That year, even many Democrats were appalled at the idea of FDR embracing what he called “the forgotten man.” The progressive Al Smith, for instance, anticipated GOP arguments of later years by accusing FDR of fostering class warfare. Republican President Herbert Hoover was in many ways a progressive by today’s standards—he had grown famous organizing relief efforts during World War I and favored raising taxes to balance the budget. But he was appalled at the idea of the federal government guaranteeing anyone, even old people, a decent standard of living. That was the job of business and voluntary associations. Americans, he felt, should be captains of their own fate.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6988217/site/newsweek/

[kentuck]

1. And he plans on using his PR connections to sell it....

That's why, as the Democrats in Congress pointed out the other day, he is spending record amounts in every dept of govt to push his ideas, not on their merits, but as a PR stunt. See Ketchum and Omnicom Group and the money they have given to individuals such as Armstrong Williams...

[Cha]

2. Gawd..he's a snarky little sonofaBitch!

I'm glad that memo leaked..it confirms what we all said was happening anyway. Why are they so easy to read?

I was hoping this revealing article was in Newsweek, too! So maybe more of the masses could read it.

I hope that 3rd rail gets bush.