How many more will be elected in November? It's terrifying to even imagine how much worse things could have been for Americans with the financial crisis. The Democrats would be doing themselves a big favor by plotting out the ugliness of such a proposal. Wall Street has bounced back nicely with a bang though consumers are still waiting to break even from their losses. It takes a special type of fool to think that privatizing the safety net for retired Americans makes sense. This plan would be little more than a safety net for Wall Street who will find new ways to screw the public. More from ThinkProgress on the insanity:
However, such rhetoric belies their record. A thorough review of the voting records and statements of Republicans in Congress reveals a critical mass of GOPers who have supported privatizing Social Security. In total, 47 percent of House Republicans and 49 percent of Senate Republicans are on record supporting the privatization of Social Security. Some, including Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), want to go even further and “wean everybody” off of Social Security altogether.
As ThinkProgress noted yesterday, Republicans in Congress have long operated by the “majority of the majority” principle, whereby legislation is only advanced by a GOP Speaker if it is supported by a majority of Republicans. With many prominent GOP candidates in favor of privatizing or eliminating Social Security, including Rand Paul, Ken Buck, Dan Coats, Sharron Angle, Dan Benishek, Ben Quayle, Star Parker, and Jesse Kelly, it’s likely that a GOP-controlled Congress would have the necessary votes to revisit the issue.
