AlterNet: A Battle Progressives Can Win: "In tackling Social Security, Bush has set a much more difficult goal than anything he attempted in his first four years. His tax cuts were heavily skewed to the rich and his Medicare prescription-drug plan gave a bonanza to the HMOs and drug industry, but any senator or representative who voted for them could tell voters, 'I got you a tax cut,' or 'I got you a new drug benefit.' A Bush plan that cuts Social Security benefits in order to finance risky speculation in the stock market %u2013 while adding $2 trillion to the national debt over 10 years %u2013 would require a much more tortured explanation by any senator or representative foolhardy enough to vote for it.

The whole effort to block Bush will stand or fall on massive public education. That's because the more people learn about privatization, the worse it looks. In Bush's first term, Republicans were solidly united behind their president while Democrats were divided. Now, congressional Republicans are worried and splintered, uncertain whether walking the privatization plank will violate their conservative principles or undermine their chances for re-election. And so far, Democrats are pretty unified."

(Via AlterNet.)