Hammer & Sickle

Just saw a motorcycle drive down Haight Street with the ol' Soviet flag on it. I was irked. I'm not exactly sure why, as I think CCCP shirts are cool. But seeing the symbol for international communism/tyranny pissed me off. (The same way I'm annoyed by Nazi gear, those German army coats that seem to be all the rage with hipster girls, Osama bin Bush t-shirts. Those are very popular in San Francisco. Last week (again on Haight Street), some guy looked at my Osama bin Laden Public Enemy Number One shirt and said it's Bush who's the public enemy. Come on dude! No comparison!)

Moving on, in the spirit of International Brotherhood and May Day, a quick chat on Social Security. I actually like Bush's proposed plan. What's wrong with a little investing if done carefully? What's wrong with trusting people to make the right decision instead of insisting the government knows better? (That is a major problem with the Democrats, assuming people are too stupid to take care of themselves.) Who would you trust with your money more, you or the government? Besides, as Bush pointed out, just put it all into bonds and you'll make more on Social Security than you would otherwise, guaranteed.

(Although when he said that, I immediately thought that the government is the organization that pays out those bonds...won't the government end up stiffing itself if they put the interest rate above inflation/expected tax revenues as people buy billions of bonds and the government has to come up with far more cash to pay it back when they cash in? Doesn't seem so smart in the long-term.)

What I have to question is the timing. This is a forward-looking plan from Bush to address a problem that's not going to rear its ugly head for forty years. Great! But why does he ignore the environment, the budget deficit, the United Nations, and lots more serious long-term problems in the interests of the short-term and all of a sudden pays attention to Social Security?

There must be a hidden agenda. Keep your eyes on the details...