Book Description
Social Security is facing the most serious, well-financed, and determined threat to its existence since its inception in 1935. For Americans to make sense of the barrage of conflicting messages on the subject, it's necessary to understand who is behind the campaign to "reform" Social Security, what the campaign aims to achieve, and how it misrepresents its goals. Best-selling author Joe Conason exposes why and how this is happening. "The Raw Deal explores the Right's privatization goals, Bush's hard-fought privatization campaign (built on a stacked "study"), the corporate interests behind the plan, the media campaign to undermine confidence in Social Security, and how the swindle can be stopped. Conason's no-apologies, no-nonsense approach clears up the myriad misperceptions surrounding this important, confusing issue and gets to the truth about the big Social Security bluff.
Customer Reviews:
The Planned Destruction of Social Security.......2007-02-12
The `Preface' by James Roosevelt Jr. says Social Security racks up surpluses as it had done for decades and will continue to do so. The special interests who want to "reform" Social Security really want to weaken or abolish it. So it is up to the American people to protect it in order "to promote the general welfare". Al Franken's `Foreword' wastes its pages on comic comments. The `Introduction' says Bush's scam would be both risky and costly, they use scary stories to fool people into believing their lies. Most Americans don't trust Bush (p.4). Conason warns about the "United Seniors Association" created to scare people into sending them money (p.5)! Powerful financiers want to destroy Social Security (p.6). They use phony fronts to fool people (p.8). Complaints and lies about Social Security go back to 1936; they have been proven false repeatedly (p.10). They can't learn and can't forget.
Here's how this fraud would work. They promised a lucrative return on "personal" accounts but didn't tell that management fees and substantial risks would drain these accounts. They promised the owner of the account would control their money but didn't tell that choice would be limited. They promised these accounts would be inherited but didn't tell you this would need an annuity that would leave little to heirs. They promised that Social Security would go bankrupt but didn't tell you this contradicted their prediction of increased growth in the economy. Heads they win, tails you lose. In the real world, people making these promises on investments would go to jail.
Chapter 1 explains when Bush says he wants to "strengthen" Social Security he really wants to reduce benefits (p.22). Conason neglects to tell that in 1952 Eisenhower promised to extend Social Security to the middle-class by including small business owners and farmers. He did this in 1953. There is no crisis in Social Security, and won't be if economic growth continues. If growth is slow private investments will suffer (p.29). Chapter 2 tells about the various publicity groups formed to attack Social Security with lies and half-truths. Conason names the corporations who pay for these advertising attacks. They simply lied about privatization (p.49)! Billions were squandered by Bush on tax cuts for the super-rich (p.50). Conason explains the frauds of the privatizers (p.56). Privatization was renamed "Choice" (p.57).
Chapter 3 tells about the phony groups who either mislead people to try to defraud them. They make up "facts" to try to prove their case (pp.67-68). This chapter tells of their techniques to divide and conquer (p.74). The AARP opposed Bush's failed proposal, and described the essential elements for a retirement plan (p.77). AARP won't tear down the house because of a clogged drain (p.78). Does the description of "United Seniors Association" on pages 79-83 expose their hidden agenda? Chapter 4 tells about the plans of Wall Street to swindle private accounts (p.86). Private accounts are losers compared to Social Security (p.89). Bush's plan to privatize Social Security because of a lack of popularity (pp.104-105). "You can't fool all of the people all of the time." Social Security was the best-working government program.
The `Conclusion' points out that Bush has not provided an actuarially sound plan to deal with an alleged future crisis in Social Security (pp.109-110). The proposed change could not work. The projected outlook for Social Security over the next 75 years is reasonably good (p.114). [The real problem is falling real wages and too high taxes.] There are other real solutions (p.117-121).
Outdated by events, but still worth reading.......2006-05-06
Given the current state of affairs in Washington, it's highly unlikely that Bush is going to be able to get very far with his plan to abolish..... (or "reform", as he puts it) Social Security. The Republicans aren't suicidal enough to bring this up before the midterm elections, and let us hope that the results of the elections will put the kibosh on this at least for a while. So the alarm that the book sounds is a bit outdated, since the public woke up to what was going on (at least partly thanks to books like this). But it's still worth reading as an expose of some of the tricks the Republican noise machine has been up to. My favorite episode involved the attempt to paint the stodgy AARP as pushing gay marriage (remember that one?). Let's hope people don't forget it!
Primer on Bush Administration Operating Procedures.......2006-01-10
If the Ku Klux Klan were to suddenly announce a plan to help black people it would be advisable for blacks to stay as far away from it as possible and when Conservatives announce their intention to save Social Security you can bet that saving it is the last thing on their minds. For 70 years Conservatives have seethed over the existence of Social Security as the de facto centerpiece of the New Deal and St. George W was to be the last best hope to slay the dragon once and for all.
In a sense `The Raw Deal' seemed dated even before it hit the bookshelves since personal accounts were already dead in the water. The disastrous sales pitch may have had a lot to do with timing since it came on the heels of the second largest stock market collapse in history as well a series of corporate scandals. A few sustained years of stock market success and the public might quickly find itself blinded by dollar signs. In another sense this book couldn't be any more timely as it's a template for the operating methods of the Bush administration and the Republican party. The fight for privatization is a classic attempt by wealth to usurp debate. This is boilerplate Bush with attempts to stack the deck, ignore impartial advisement, bully businesses and politicians, use industry sponsored Think Tanks to unleash mountains of biased information and as Bush himself said `catapault the propoganda'. In one of the most cynical moves of late, Conservatives used what are called Astroturf organizations. These are groups that give off the illusion of being grassroots movement for a specific demographic (blacks, elderly etc.) when in fact they are corporate funded with little to no actual members. Meanwhile, in perhaps the lowest move of the battle Conservative funded USA Next, fresh from Swiftboating John Kerry unleashed its fury on AARP claiming them to be anti-military and pro gay marriage.
Social Security `reform' is dead for now but the methods used to push it are so routine at this point that it would be well worth people's time to analyze what was done. In all the back and forth people tend to forget or perhaps never realized that the Bush administration never once drafted specific proposals. Sure they would drop hints and ideas but nothing substantive for critics to actually analyze. The intention was to win the war first and figure out if a solution was feasible later. Since the Bush administration didn't give a damn about arguably the most successful government program ever it didn't matter whether or not any eventual solution worked.
"The Raw Deal" is a small book at 136 pages that can be read in a few short sittings but it's packed with information. The ideas within are much broader than Social Security. They are about leadership, honesty (mostly a lack thereof), cynical politics and manipulation of the public. It's about a president whose ideas are so vacuous that he can only give speeches before pre-selected audiences of converts and sycophants. "The Raw Deal" is a relatively small investment in time that informs far beyond its short length.
Soc Sec Expert Says Conason is On the Mark!.......2005-12-29
I worked as an expert on US Social Security policy for 7 years in Washington, DC: 4 years at the Social Security Administration (Office of Policy) and 3 years as assistant director of Social Security policy research for a non-partisan Washington, DC non-profit organization. (Type "Kelly Olsen and Social Security" into any search engine if you're unconvinced that I know what I'm talking about here.)
Two years after leaving public service in Washington, DC in 2003, I wrote an op-ed in the Asheville Citizen-Times (March 20, 2005, available online at http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050320/OPINION03/503200308/1058/OPINION01) in which I basically say in 900 words what Mr. Conason says in this book. The main difference between what I said in my op-ed and what's in this book is that Mr. Conason has the space to fill in the main details.
Mr. Conason is onto the Republican elite's game of deception to undermine Social Security altogether. Andrew Biggs, who now heads up the Social Security Office of Retirement Policy under George W. Bush, actually wrote in 1999 (when he was not yet a political appointee) that "private accounts would sever the ties of middle-class and wealthy Americans to government assistance programs and diminish political support for social welfare programs." Mr. Biggs argued that "market investment of payroll taxes sets the stage for ... a new political culture that rejects government intervention in favor of individual and market freedom. In that way, Social Security reform featuring Personal Retirement Accounts doesn't send just one liberal sacred cow to the slaughterhouse. It sends the whole herd." Clear enough? It is important to note that the Republican elite's Social Security goals are far to the right of the desires of most Americans who identify themselves as Republicans.
Alas, Conason's claim that the Republican elite are out to destroy Social Security is NOT liberal alarmist hype. Mr. Conason is right on the mark in his summary of the issue, and he has written an accessible and interesting book for citizens who want to educate themselves about how the current Republican party wants to undermine the most popular and administratively efficient social program in U.S. history, dish out money to their Wall Street friends in the process, and stick taxpayers with the tremendous transition costs of doing so. Mr. Conason's book is important because Social Security is a complex issue, and it's become more difficult for intelligent concerned citizens to gather the needed facts ever since the Social Security Administration started putting out its own pro-accounts political propaganda under George W. Bush. (Hey, your tax dollars at work, folks!)
I've left public service, and I don't plan to ever go back to working on Social Security policy. I'm on no one's payroll, and I have no incentive to write this review (or to have read this book, for that matter) other than my continued concern that people will let the Republicans destroy this critical program that keeps millions of working and retired families (aged, disabled, and young and old survivors) out of poverty. I am writing this only as a concerned private citizen (and a fiscally conservative moderate one at that). Whatever your political orientation, unless you're super-rich or on Wall Street, it's in your rational self-interest to oppose Social Security privatization. As I said earlier, the Republican elite are far to the right of their own citizen constituencies on this issue.
Most observers are saying the fight over Social Security privatization is over, but I don't put anything past this current group of Republicans. Sowing the seeds of Social Security's destruction is a long-standing fantasy of the Republican elite. So long as they control the Congress, the Senate, and the White House -- and there are Big Moneyed interests to appease -- millions of working families are at risk of losing their future Social Security benefits in the form of "personal accounts." Read Mr. Conason's book, inform yourself, spread the word, and make your voice heard.
Good Summary.......2005-12-19
Conason begins the book with a minor blooper referencing the three characteristics of a high-pressure sale. The first two were: 1)Create a sense of urgency (eg. "limited time only," and 2)Conjure a keen sense of opportunity - eg. "new and improved." I never could find #3. Nonetheless, he goes on to provide excellent material on how Bush et al are truly trying to destroy Social Security, switching from privatization to partial privatization to personal accounts to progressive indexing as opposition mounted.
Conason reports that Social Security has been a priority Republican target since FDR, referencing Eisenhower (he thought opponents were idiots), Goldwater, Reagan (he talked both pro and con; ended up establishing the credible Greenspan-led commission that laid the foundation for continuing its stability), to Bush #2.
GWB, rather than establish a credible commission aka his hero Reagan, stacked the deck entirely with privatization supporters. (Originally as a candidate he called Social Security "the single most successful government program in history," and promised to "lock away more than $2 trillion of the federal surplus for the program's future benefits.) Then, rather than pursue the issue his first term (and damage re-election prospects) nothing happened until immediately after 1/05.
Claiming a crisis, and a means to save the system Bush hit the trail, aided by the support of AIG (American Independent Group - world's largest insurer), the CATO Institute (Coors funded pro-business "think-tank"), and phony groups hiding behind innocuous and misleading-sounding fronts (eg. "Pro 21" - supposedly a black group in support consisted of a black director and a white executive director; "United Seniors claimed over 1 million members - yet only $2 million of its '03 revenues came from members, and most of the rest from the pharmaceutical industry), tried to sell a litany of lies across the country. Example: Social Security discrimates against minorities because they don't live as long. (The claim ignores the higher benefits they receive from disability and survivors' insurance, and has been refuted by the GAO and the Social Security Admin's Office of the Chief Actuary.) Nonetheless, this point raises an interesting question - Why doesn't Bush have interest in improving minority life expectancy and incomes if he want to help them?
Another ploy was to raise the hope of easy money - the new plan would offer much better returns, as much as 10%/year over the long run. Countering, Professor Schiller (author of "Irrational Exhuberance" and its alarm about overvalued stocks) suggests less than half that amount would be more accurate - and that doesn't even take into account the fees that would be charged - now averaging 1.09% for mutual funds. (0.65% would generate an estimated $940 billion in fees over 75 years.
Meanwhile, while Bush et al bewail Social Security's demise, they also omit the fact that their new Medicare drug benefit will cost an estimated double the Social Security shortage!
Alternatives to Bush's "salvation" include eliminating the upper limit on taxable Social Security earnings (now $95,000+), and increasing the employee share by 0.9% over 50 years.
Possibly the only "good" out of the President's effort is that it takes attention away from declining private pension and health insurance coverage, stock frauds, Iraq, and outsourcing.
Book Description
This important resource contains a variety of options for people living with disability and chronic health conditions maximize their rights and entitlements within the health care system. It is an indispensable resource for anyone who is uninsured, underinsured, or who has questions about insurance and doesn’t know where to begin. Updated to reflect changes since the first edition, the book contains information on Medicaid, Social Security disability insurance, SSI, COBRA, state high risk pools, pharmacy assistance programs, and much more.
Customer Reviews:
Details about options for individuals who are uninsured.......2003-06-12
Those with chronic health conditions or disabilities are often the last to qualify for good health insurance. Health Insurance Resource Manual: Options For People With A Chronic Disease Or Disability contains details about options for individuals who are uninsured, underinsured, or who have questions about Social Security, Medicare and other options. The first section answers questions and reviews health insurance plans; the second offers the directories and resources to aid in further research.
Book Description
Provides important facts about disability insurance, the least known yet most often needed coverage.
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7.A SSI: summary.(Section 7. Supplemental Security Income)(Illustration) : An article from: Social Security Bulletin
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This digital document is an article from Social Security Bulletin, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2004. The length of the article is 4285 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
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Title: 7.A SSI: summary.(Section 7. Supplemental Security Income)(Illustration)
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Social Security Bulletin (Magazine/Journal)
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7.B SSI: state data.(Section 7. Supplemental Security Income) : An article from: Social Security Bulletin
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This digital document is an article from Social Security Bulletin, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2004. The length of the article is 4284 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
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Title: 7.B SSI: state data.(Section 7. Supplemental Security Income)
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Social Security Bulletin (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2004
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7.C SSI: benefit distributions.(Section 7. Supplemental Security Income)(Illustration): An article from: Social Security Bulletin
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This digital document is an article from Social Security Bulletin, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2004. The length of the article is 601 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
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Title: 7.C SSI: benefit distributions.(Section 7. Supplemental Security Income)(Illustration)
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Social Security Bulletin (Magazine/Journal)
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7.E SSI: recipient characteristics.(Section 7. Supplemental Security Income)(Illustration) : An article from: Social Security Bulletin
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This digital document is an article from Social Security Bulletin, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2004. The length of the article is 1579 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
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Title: 7.E SSI: recipient characteristics.(Section 7. Supplemental Security Income)(Illustration)
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Social Security Bulletin (Magazine/Journal)
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Page: 7.17(3)
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The Americans with Disabilities Act: fighting discrimination.(Insurance Law): An article from: Trial
Monica E. McFadden
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This digital document is an article from Trial, published by Association of Trial Lawyers of America on September 1, 1995. The length of the article is 4178 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
From the supplier: Attorneys can use several aspects of the Americans with Disabilities Act to protect plaintiffs' rights and counter the arguments of employers and insurace companies. Many defenses rely on a cost-justification test to argue that pre-existing insurance practices, though discriminatory, may continue. However, unless the defense can offer factual proof of the problems coverage would entail, it may be engaged in subterfuge. Other protections and prohibitions in the ADA are discussed, with the role played by regulation.
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Title: The Americans with Disabilities Act: fighting discrimination.(Insurance Law)
Author: Monica E. McFadden
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Trial (Magazine/Journal)
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Volume: 31
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Jane's International Defense Directory 2004 (Jane's International Defense Directory)
Simon
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Ethnic Humor Around the World: A Comparative Analysis
Christie Davies
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- The Red Book Kirchner's Insurance Directories South Central East 2004: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi (The Red Book Kirchner's)
- The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers
- Theories of Imperfectly Competitive Markets
- Tourism Satellite Account: Tourism Balance of Payments
- Transportes González e Hija
- Were They Pushed or Did They Jump?: Individual Decision Mechanisms in Education (Studies in Rationality and Social Change)
- Work Incentives in the Danish Welfare State: New Empirical Evidence
- World Tourism Directory '95-96: Africa, Middle East, Asia, and Oceania (World Tourism Directory Africa, Middle East, Asia, Oceania)
- Xenophon's Socratic Discourse: An Interpretation of the Oeconomicus
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