President Bush has racked up a
big bill pushing for the privatization of Social
Security. His campaign - an onslaught against 60 cities
in 60 days - is estimated to cost nearly $3 million,
including pricey trips on Air Force One at $60,250 each,
hotels, meals and hiring employees to run the show.
The Washington Post reports that the House
Appropriations Committee's Republicans have quietly
asked the administration for an accounting of its blitz.
Rep. Henry Waxman of California, the ranking Democrat on
the Government Reform Committee, also has asked the
Government Accountability Office not only about the
costs but also about "whether the Bush
administration has crossed the line from education to
propaganda."
Somebody should have asked these questions before the
planes took off.
Numerous studies have shown that revamping Social
Security will fail miserably, costing future recipients
thousands of hard-earned dollars, whether they invest or
not. But what especially bothers me is the expense of
this barrage by the president against a program that
doesn't need to be fixed. While the middle class and
poor sweated out filing their taxes last week, thousands
of federal dollars were being spent on a project with a
dubious outcome.
It reminded me of a speech former President Reagan
gave, asking Americans to tighten their belts and ride
out the fiscal crisis that washed over the nation. He
promptly left the following weekend for a highbrow
barbecue in his California home.
Bush talks the talk but never walks the walk. No
budget cuts for him. With outrageous gas prices, he
should be taking the bus. Or how about staying at the
local Holiday Inn and eating at a few fast-food joints?
That's what the rest of the country is doing - if it has
any money to take a trip.
Under Bush's plan, owners of investment companies
will be the only ones able to retire with dignity.
Where are the president's big campaign trips to
reform corporate tax loopholes?
The people who carry this country get one straw after
another piled on their backs when big businesses refuse
to carry the load. States compete for businesses by
giving them enormous tax breaks, but it's the
constituents who pay the bill.
Every time a Republican gets his hooks in the Oval
Office and Congress, my disposable income disappears.
Democrats are branded as the spending party, but they
have the good sense to spend on people who need the
money. Republicans spend our money on themselves.
I'm tired of being asked to give up the small
pleasures of life, living in a country where I pay for
the freedom of the rich.
You can e-mail Barbara J. McKee at chairgrrl@chairgrrl.com.
Her column runs on Tuesdays.
By Barbara McKee / Tribune Columnist
