Deja Vu All Over Again? Another Bad Idea from Hillary Clinton

[IndianaGreen]

Deja Vu All Over Again? Another Bad Idea from Hillary Clinton

By Norman Markowitz

Senator Hillary Clinton, frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, has come forward with a plan to establish federally supported 401k retirement funds as a supplemental pension program for low and moderate income citizens. Even though the proposal has a positive funding idea (freezing the existing estate tax, which Republicans denounce as a “death tax” and want to abolish), it is still a lousy idea.

Remember that 401k retirement accounts were a corporate and conservative Republican policy to provide tax incentives for stock market based individual retirement accounts for employees who had no public or union based retirement plans. They were intended in part to prevent progressive reform and expansion of Social Security or for that matter to discourage non-union employees from unionizing in order to get union pension benefits. They are really a bad idea for everyone except those on Wall Street or what is euphemistically called the “financial services industry” who would make out very well from such a development, not of course as much as they would from Bush's Social Security privatization plans, but politically those plans are very much dead in the water.

Progressives should oppose this plan and make it clear to Clinton that she will not be put in office to enact conservative policies as an alternative to the extreme right-wing policies of the Bush administration. When tens of millions of Americans voted in 1992 for her husband, a charming man whom they didn't know who spoke in glittering generalities, they were voting to end the Reagan-Bush era and reverse Reagan-Bush I ultra-right policies.

When Bill Clinton came forward with a health care proposal (led by Hillary) which would have established federally regulated HMO's under the guise of universal health care and lost, fought ferociously to enact the NAFTA agreement against labor and most progressive forces in the U.S., and “won,” and pursued fiscal conservative policies that essentially turned his back on the cities and working people, he set the stage for the right-wing Republican victory in 1994 and helped to create the political climate that enabled Bush II to steal the 2000 election.

It must be made clear to Hillary Clinton, who benefits tremendously from the fact that she is clearly better than any Republican even if she is near the bottom of the Democratic candidates in regard to substance, that she can't be the candidate of Wall Street, the insurance companies, the corporations and the rich, offering then safer stock portfolios, and expect to win the active support of working class people who are the core constituencies of the Democratic party by offering them in regard to pensions and health care, among other things, a slightly less painful version of the system which right-wing Republican governments have foisted on them.

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/5978/1/289/

[lostnotforgotten]

1. Will Nvere Vote For A Bush War Monger - This Adds Yet Another Reason

eom

[reprobate]

2. Of course her plan would benefit the wall street elite. It's their money she's running on.

It's good to see that some people in the Democratic party are waking up to the fact that the Clintons are not, have never been and will never be progressives. They have always been DLC Democrats, and that means they are republicans dressed in the clothes of asses.

The support, passage, and signing into law of NAFTA by the Clintons was the most treacherous action on the nations working people by a Democratic executive in living memory. Why should we expect a distaff Clinton to be any different. Even HE said that she was his most influential adviser.

Seems to me that Rove and the MSM have been successful in convincing us that she is the one we should put up as nominee. She's the one they wanted to run agains because SHE IS ONE OF THEM. Listen to her answers in interviews. She makes wonderful sounding statements in answer to questions that sound well thought out and intelligent. But parse them out and you find there ain't nothing there. She didn't really say anything that answers the question asked.

Has anyone noticed that she has said absolutely NOTHING about rescinding the 'unitary' executive powers that George Caligula Bush has gathered to himself? Could it possibly be because she wants those powers for herself? After all, the corporations backing her would benefit hugely from this.

My biggest fear is that a Hillary presidency will mean the end of our two party system. It's on life support now, but with Nancy 'Go Along to Get Along' Pelosi and Harry 'Speak Softly and Carry a Small Dick' Reid in control of congress, the right wing has all they need to bury the Democrats in the dustpiles of history.

Vote for whoever you want, but for Dog's sake, THINK before you vote. Don't let Rove lead you by the nose.

[IndianaGreen]

4. I have taken notice that few candidates have spoken about restoring the Republic

Some Democrats want the same power that Bush has amassed for themselves.

We are not safer with a Democratic tyrant than we are with a Republican.

[gateley]

6. It really depends on the Democrat. The main focus has been on Iraq but we

DO need to press them on their views regarding restoring the Republic, as you so eloquently stated.

[bvar22]

9. The DLC helped build the "Unitary Executive" ,

and helped stack the SCOTUS with right wing Corporatists. (SEE: Gang of 14)

With the DLC candidate leading in the polls, the BIG MONEY POWERBROKERS in the Democratic Party are not going to jepordize the Unitary Executive they are in line to inherit.

This is also why there is no move to Impeach.
Impeachment would rock the boat too much, and the voters might DEMAND that the system be fixed.

Smarter move to just lay back and wait for the Unitary Executive to come to them.
Too bad about The Constitution and democracy.... But hey, this is Politics & Power!!!

Just wait until a DLC Unitary Executive is in control of No Bid, Cost Plus Contracts, and diverting taxpayer money to their crony contributers on Wall Street, the Health Insurance Industry, Israel, and the MIC!!!

[Demeter]

3. K&R, One More Will Do It

[gateley]

5. K&R nt

[HughMoran]

7. You are one negative Hillary post after another!

I can't even take the time to read your posts any more as your agenda procedes you.

[MethuenProgressive]

8. "Marxist Thought Online" as a source????

OK, so the Marxists don't like her. I can live with that.