Billionaire George Soros is sponsoring the organization
America Coming Together in its effort to unseat congressional
Republicans, columnist Robert Novak reports. ACT has been passing
out leaflets on the Staten Island ferry, Mr. Novak charges, and
elsewhere in the metropolitan area. Operatives are also going
door-to-door and are planning phone-bank activity in the coming
weeks in an effort to pressure Rep. Vito Fossella, a Republican
of Staten Island, into opposing President's Bush Social Security
proposal. Fat chance of that, Mr. Soros.
ACT may be behind the recent news reports detailing Mr.
Fossella's dining expenses, which, instead of inciting outrage at
the costs, is provoking laughter in the borough at a blatant
attempt to smear a very popular Island politician. Mr. Fossella
is not being accused of any illegality, and that he has
documented even charges as low as $12 at a local diner only
proves his thoroughness in accounting for every campaign dollar.
The Democrats are trying to turn the Social Security issue into a
weapon to win seats in the House of Representatives. What they
may not realize is that Staten Islanders are not only politically
savvy but have long memories. They haven't forgotten what the
Democrats were saying during the Clinton administration. Senator
Reid, a Democrat of Nevada, said: "Most of us have no
problem with taking a small amount of the Social Security
proceeds and putting it into the private sector." President
Clinton was saying that Social Security was in a "fiscal
crisis" and other Democrats were urging that action be taken
to fix Social Security before it went bankrupt. Now that Mr. Bush
is doing exactly that, the crisis has mysteriously disappeared.
Why, I wonder, have the Democrats opted once again for the divide
and conquer modus operandi? If it's not pitting the poor against
the rich, the blacks against the whites, it's now the older
Americans and the younger.
I spoke to a savvy S.I. senior citizen, Joan Callahan, a retired
professor, at a dinner last week for a new bipartisan
organization, Citizens Organized for Political Empowerment.
"What are these seniors afraid of? It's not going to affect
anyone over 55 and besides it's completely voluntary," she
said.
Those legislators fighting against any changes to the Social
Security system omit those two points. They also whine that the
program pays for other services besides the retirement benefits
and these are in danger of being reduced. While it's true that
the supplemental Social Security payments apply to individuals of
all ages, one has to wonder about the efficacy of this
bureaucratic add-on.
There's a methadone clinic near my house and I've watched the
same individuals go for treatment for more than 25 years. These
men have been receiving SSI payments and probably will until
death. They've never paid much into the system and yet they're
guaranteed payments as long as they're drug-dependent. I
seriously doubt that FDR drafted this program to sponsor
addictions. He also proposed voluntary accounts as a proponent of
Social Security, just as Mr. Bush has.
What's happened to the Democratic Party? It is on the wrong side
of everything that mainstream America is for. In fact, it is even
against what urban Americans are endorsing. This party is against
school vouchers, for gay marriage, against private accounts as
part of Social Security. Statistics show that blacks have a lower
life span than whites and yet Democrats are suggesting raising
the retirement age. The Bush suggestion is for ownership of the
SS private accounts that can be passed on to beneficiaries. How
can anyone argue with the fairness of this proposal?
Perhaps most telling of how low the Democrats have sunk out of
pure partisanship instead of legitimate debate is how they
blocked the weekend vote for a Save Terry Schiavo bill. It would
have provided for an extension of the woman's life since her
feeding tube was removed by order of a Florida judge who should
be removed from the bench.
Terry Schiavo is not brain dead. Look at the videos posted on
www.terrisfight.org and see Terry open her eyes when commanded.
You will realize that while she may be brain damaged, she is not
a vegetable. My sister-in-law was left in a vegetative state by
an operation blunder and I know the difference. You can see
people like Terry being wheeled around by loving family all over
the city. Terry can breathe on her own. A feeding tube is not
extraordinary but basic care. Yet the House Democrats are
determined to see her die by starvation.
George Soros could not have picked a more unsuitably named
organization to sponsor. America Coming Apart would be more
descriptive of its mission statement.