Tuesday, December 21, 2004
"We Want Your Money,
And We Want It Now!"
—Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, ...
... State Street Corporation, Charles Schwab & Company, the United States Chamber of Commerce, American Express, the American International Group (AIG), Morgan Stanley, Vanguard, MFS Investment Management and Fidelity.0 comments
The 'make a buck at any price' boys are ("Shhhh, quietly...") swinging back into action.
Wall St. Lobby Quietly Tackles Social Security
Always remember:
"Greed is good!"—Gordon Gekko, in Wall Street (Oliver Stone, Director)
These are the same fellows who made a bundle, even as upwards of 70% of your retirement account was wiped out in the Bush Recession of 2001-2003. They're also the same lot who made a bundle on the ensuing recovery, even though you most likely weren't included in the surge, since you were probably sitting around, being unemployed, or something.
There are signs, however, that the [financial] industry is becoming a little more aggressive in pushing for private accounts, through a loose assemblage of trade associations, business coalitions and conservative research centers. These groups have lately begun trying to raise money from business interests and to marshal support on Capitol Hill, while also seeking to deflect criticism that Wall Street is behind the move simply to reap rich rewards for administering the accounts.
Along with the firms listed above, keep a sharp eye out for ANY of the following groups that either were started in order to dupe you into allowing Social Securty to be raped, or are elastic enough to simply expand their greed into that issue:
- The Securities Industry Association, which recently issued a research report arguing that the private accounts would not be a financial bonanza for Wall Street.
- The Investment Company Institute, the lobbying arm for the mutual fund industry
- The Alliance for Worker Retirement Security, a business coalition advocating private accounts
- The Club for Growth, a far-right Republican tax-abolition group that has also been active in the drive for privately held Social Security accounts
- The Cato Institute, a Washington policy research and lobbying organization with libertarian leanings that has received financial support from, among others, American Express and the American International Group, the large insurance company. State Street also provided funds in the past to support the institute's efforts to persuade Congress of the merits of personal accounts.
- The Coalition for American Financial Security, the unsuccessful effort in 2002 by an industry group for SSI privatization.
You can safely assume that anything you see in print or on TV from any of these groups or firms, or the people representing them, will be self-serving at best, and/or a lie.
Trust NOTHING they say.
posted by Gotham 4:01 PM
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