Dems Plan Scorched Earth Strategy

In 1864 General Sherman marched from Atlanta to Savannah leaving a 60 mile wide swath of total destruction otherwise known as Shermans "March to the Sea". Apparently the Dems are also considering such a plan when it comes to all of President Bush's big ideas.

In 1993 & 94 President Clinton tried to launch HilaryCare which would have taken over one seventh of the U.S. economy and ruined health care as we know it. The GOP under Newt Gingrich vigorously opposed the plan and the following Republican Revolution led to the 1994 swamping of the Dems in the mid-term election.

The Dems have been studying those tactics and have decided to do something similar in regards to the Social Security debate. Just a few years ago when the country was looking at large surpluses, Clinton himself said that the first priority was to save Social Security. Now suddenly the Dems think that Social Security is just fine and any changes are unacceptable. Any idiot with a calculator can quickly prove them wrong.

In not too many years as the Baby Boom generation ages there will be fewer and fewer workers for every senior receiving benefits. That is a pyramid scheme that is sure to collapse without bold and creative action. President Bush has decided to take on this challenge, and the Dems have decided to fight it tooth and nail.

According to David Brooks in the New York Times (registration required) the Dems have been studying Gingrich's tactics from '93 and are going to try them this year in the Social Security debate in the hopes that the battle will yield a massive Dem victory in the '06 midterm elections. The Dems seem to be forgetting one big thing: the country didn't need or want national health care in '94, but the country does want a healthy Social Security system now. Also, Clinton won with only 43% of the vote in '92 which means there was already a majority of voters opposed to him. Bush won with 51%.

The debate will be energetic and every charge imaginable will be thrown about, but I fully expect that when all is said and done, the Dems will once again open the door right into their own nose and the '06 election will once again go heavily to the GOP who will be seen as the party trying to save Social Security while the Dems will be seen as out of touch with reality while trying to preserve a failing and flawed system.