Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Their Vacations and Ours

Joey Cavella asks: "If they [elected congressional officials] give themselves 5 weeks of vacation and the entire winter off then shouldn't every working American get the same?"
That's the right question. American workers should never ask, "Why don't the President, Senators, and Representatives work as hard as we do?" Because our lives and livelihoods are safer when politicians are on vacation or paralyzed by scandals:
Had it not been for Monica's captivating smile and first inviting snap of that famous thong, President Bill Clinton would have consummated the politics of triangulation, heeding the counsel of a secret White House team and deputy treasury secretary Larry Summers. Late in 1998 or in the State of the Union message of 1999 a solemn Clinton would have told Congress and the nation that, just like welfare, Social Security was near-broke, had to be "reformed" and its immense pool of capital tendered in part to the mutual funds industry. The itinerary mapped out for Clinton by the Democratic Leadership Committee would have been complete. (Robin Blackburn, "How Monica Lewinsky Saved Social Security," CounterPunch, October 30/31, 2004)

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