C.T. SENATE RACE: Right Behind - The plight of Alan Schlesinger (400 hits)
Category: NewsRating: -1.37 on 11 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Steven Durel (View user info) at 2006-09-22 16:53:59 EDT
Six months after encountering Green Party candidate Ralph Ferrucci on the grim streets of Middletown, I recently decided to finally approach another contender vying for Joe Lieberman's Senate seat. Startling Alan Schlesinger in the lobby of a Norwich radio station, I crudely assaulted the man with questions about bureaucracy, his political opponents and the abandonment he has suffered at the hands of fellow Republicans.
SD: How can Social Security be made less bureaucratic?
AS: First you have to realize is that Social Security is not funded on an actuary basis like pensions. They have what's called a Social Security Trust Fund, which is a cruel hoax. Right now there is about $150 billion a year that comes in for Social Security and Medicare but doesn't go to recipients. Every cent of that money is used to offset the deficit, which comes from expenditures for Iraq, education, roads, healthcare, you name it. They have this accounting gimmick where they say, "We spent it, but we'll put in our handy-dandy journal that we owe the Social Security Trust Fund this much." So they put in phantom notes as if they actually exist.
Imagine you had an uncle that gave you $1,000 a month for retirement that you promised to save, but every month you spent it on your car, going out, vacation, whatever. So you kept a journal and were so honest about your dishonesty that not only did you write down the money you were supposed to be saving, but also the interest it would have made. That's the Social Security Trust Fund. It's a meaningless accounting gesture. There's a massive iceberg of debt out there because these fake notes have to be turned into real money. You can't send someone a fake Social Security check!
Greenspan, when he was leaving the Federal Reserve, was asked this question. He danced a while, but told the truth that those notes are going to have to be turned into regular government notes, which has national security implications. As these notes are put into the market, guess who buys them: Japan, China and now oil-producing Arab countries. Imagine if oil-producers not only had a stranglehold on us from our oil addiction, but also owned our debt. They could cut off buying our debt just like they can turn the oil spigot, which puts our economy at risk. The last time a country had that kind of debt was Argentina ten years ago and their economy collapsed.
We need to put Congress on Social Security just like everyone else; no more Congressional pensions. Then we should segregate the Social Security Trust Fund. Bush suggested privatization, having younger people put their own money into individual accounts. Liberal spenders didn't want that because then they couldn't spend it. They refused putting money aside for the future. How the hell does that save Social Security? That would be like an addict saying, "Don't put money away for my schooling, just give it to me now so I can buy drugs." We should put the money into securitized mortgages. It would be real money earning real interest in a real Trust Fund, invested in the people so that they would have an easier time buying homes.
SD: Has Joe Lieberman broken any unspoken rules of politics by running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary?
AS: No, he has a right to be on the ballot just like anyone else. I do think, though, that Joe Lieberman feels that it's so critical for him to be in the Senate that he has distorted his views, doing anything to maintain that position, including running for both vice-president and senator in 2000 and now running as both a Democratic and an independent. It's not about Joe Lieberman, though, it's about the people of Connecticut.
SD: In July The Hartford Courant, who supported Lieberman in the primary, put your 15-year-old casino alias fiasco on their front page. How do you respond to their allegations?
AS: It's ridiculous. It wasn't even an alias because it's not an identification card. It was a Wampum Card, a promotional item marketing ploy of the casino. I could've asked for a card that said Daffy Duck and they would have given me one. I knew people who put really funny things on their cards. It was a tempest in a teapot and it was used to smear my good name. I am an attorney who has never had a grievance filed against him. I was elected and re-elected by 81% of the vote in a four-to-one Democratic city. I simply did not want the casino to have me on their marketing list.
SD: Gov. Jodi Rell came out against your campaign several months ago.
AS: She wasn't out endorsing me, let me put it that way. But she's running her own campaign and that's her prerogative. I really don't think most voters pay attention to who supports who in an election.
SD: But don't you feel betrayed by the Republican Party?
AS: I feel undermined by certain members of the Republican Party and they'll have to answer for it when the time comes. This race is far too important to get into pointing fingers and saying who should be doing what. I stand for what I stand for.
SD: So what do you say to Republicans who plan on voting for Joe?
AS: I think it's ludicrous. For a Republicans to vote for him is for them to vote against their own interests. I'm trying to discourage them from voting tactically to stop Lamont because it's not going to work. If they vote with me, I'll win. If they vote against me and for Joe, chances are that Lamont is going to win. It's a misguided theory.
SD: What's going to be your tactic for the rest of the campaign?
AS: I'm going to do something novel: I'm going to tell them the truth. If you want status quo, vote for Joe Lieberman. If you want someone who'll tell you anything you want to hear, vote for Ned Lamont. If you want the truth and someone who's going to do something about it, vote for Alan Schlesinger. That's the choice this November.
User Reviews
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2006-09-23 23:36:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
SD stands for SHUTUP DICKHEAD
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-09-23 23:26:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Submitted by stevendurel (user info) at 2006-09-23 17:52:46 (#)
Ranking: 0
Hint, guys: "SD" doesn't stand for Scooby Doo.
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What's your point?
Off the front page.
Submitted by stevendurel (user info) at 2006-09-23 17:52:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-09-22 18:12:40 (#)
Ranking: -2
No shit?
Long boring, and PLAGIARISED gasp
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Submitted by joedaddy (user info) at 2006-09-23 02:29:05 (#)
Ranking: -2
regurgitate regurgitate regurgitate
i don't think you'll ever develop an independent thought
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Hint, guys: "SD" doesn't stand for Scooby Doo.
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2006-09-23 04:44:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by joedaddy (user info) at 2006-09-23 02:29:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
regurgitate regurgitate regurgitate
i don't think you'll ever develop an independent thought
Submitted by Phallic_Cymbals (user info) at 2006-09-23 02:17:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
GOATSE!
Submitted by Wildman (user info) at 2006-09-23 02:06:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Turd Thief.
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2006-09-22 20:45:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
I don't think he really ever HAD a "time".
Except to gloat for some reason about his grandpa opening up a publishing company so his Net book could see paper.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-09-22 18:56:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
Face it, Durel - your time has come and gone here.
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-09-22 18:12:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
No shit?
Long boring, and PLAGIARISED gasp
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2006-09-22 17:46:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
You're the life of all the frat parties, eh Stevie?