Pensions, Tax Cuts, and Aristocracies

Let's see, in the financial news of late, we're learning that pensions, both traditional (defined benefit) and more recent types such as 401K's (defined contribution), are undefunded. Meanwhile, we know that CEO benefits and pensions are growing as companies cut worker pension benefits. In 1980, the average CEO's pay "was 42 timess that of the average worker . . . By 2000, CEO compensation was 1,531 times as much as the hourly worker's" ("The Pension Gap Widens," by Kristin Downey, Washington Post --Downey was citing figures from Business Week).

Meanwhile, unemployment is up to its highest level in years.

And what does President Bush propose? Cutting taxes for the wealthiest. No pension refrom ideas, no addressing worker's wages, no help with necessary life costs, such as health care and prescription drugs, which costs will make the future for retirees even more tenuous than their already shrinking and underfunded pensions do.

But what can you expect. Bush is rich, and connected. The rich take care of their own. He has stock brokerage company presidents advising him on corporate accounting and stock market brokerage ethics. He has a vice-president who is giving away contracts for rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan to corporations that helped pay for Bush's election and that helped make the vice president wealthy.

Meanwhile, Bush cynically relives the flying days he never finished, the duty he pretended to honor, but ignored instead, by making the crew of an aircraft carrier that had been ten months at sea, ten months away from home, in one of the longest tours of duty ever, wait an extra day, and sit a mere ten miles from port, so that he could do a photo op landing in a jump suit.

Welcome to the imperial presidency and the age of the aristocrat. And they called Clinton slick. We'll we've traded in "Slick Willie" for "Oily George."   ¶ 3:27 PM