Dems revive Social Security scare tactics as election nears

“Dems raise stakes on Social Security ‘gamble’” (article, Oct. 1) presents the same tired and untruthful theme that Democrats trot out come every election cycle.

My boss, Jim Martin, president of the 60 Plus Association, has been combating these scare tactics for more than 15 years. Demagoguing Social Security to get seniors into the voting booth is nothing new — but constantly irritating.

It’s so disheartening to hear Democrats falsely accuse Republicans of wanting to dismantle Social Security.

“You can almost set your watch every election by these false charges,” Ken Spain of the National Republican Congressional Committee said recently, and he’s correct.

Former Sen. Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts once declared, “My party, the Democratic party, has been riding the twin horses of hypocrisy — Social Security and Medicare — for over 30 years,” as quoted in Esquire magazine in 1996.

And when former Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), a strong advocate for Social Security, was asked why his party each election always falsely accused Republicans of trying to dismantle Social Security, he replied, “Because it garners votes.”

When then-Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) stated in 1964 that Social Security needed to be restructured because seniors were living longer, and a lower birthrate meant fewer workers paying into the (so-called) Social Security Trust Fund, President Lyndon Johnson ran a TV ad showing a giant pair of scissors cutting a Social Security card in half with an announcer proclaiming this would be the result if seniors voted for Goldwater.

Today, presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is guilty of the same distortions, as is the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, launching attack ads in battleground states and districts.

Seniors are sick and tired of being political punching bags for ruthless politicians who have their own self-interests in mind, being elected and reelected. You would think these Democrats would have a twinge of conscience. Seniors deserve better.

Arlington, Va.

BAILOUT PLANS

No pain, no gain

From K.J. St. Pierre

I struggled 20 years to own a home, and because the government let the banks police their own FHA loans, my HUD premiums were pocketed by the bank, the bank denied my claim to my FHA benefits, HUD wouldn’t step in and I was wrongfully foreclosed on.

What the poor and middle class are seeing in the midst of this disastrous economy isn’t a curtailing of credit and loss of a future that the media have been projecting — they are seeing a light of hope. Many are suddenly being approved for credit they couldn’t get six months ago with half the interest rates. What we are seeing is prices coming down to where an ordinary man can have a dream again.

Is it painful? Of course it is — but long overdue! The government sat on the problem when we, the people, were losing our homes and our jobs. Where was the bailout for that? Let the financial markets bail themselves out by selling their investments to the rest of us at the price they stole them for.

Sacramento, Calif.

Is there any other way?

From Judy Kirk

Has anyone listened to alternative ideas? I thought Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) made good sense. Why are other people’s ideas not even considered, rather than just approving $700 billion — now more that $800 billion?

Is there any other way? We the average American worked two jobs to buy our homes. I don’t want to buy people’s homes that don’t even want to work.

 I love my country and am proud to live here, but am very discouraged about all of this.

Kalkaska, Mich.