David Rubenstein - Billionaire Who Wants Your Social Security Dollars

Through deceit and manipulation, and with help from the mainstream media, the capitalist elite is waging a frontal assault on Social Security and Medicare.  Make no mistake about it, NPR and PBS are clearly in the MSM, so they won’t be of any help to the elderly who are likely to lose benefits.  Keep in mind that PBS news programs are brought to you by EXXON/Mobile, Ban k of America, Coca Cola and a host of foundations that are designed to be system maintenance mechanisms.  If any social justice issue is discussed on the PBS News Hour, hacks from the Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, or the Cato Institute will be brought in to oppose the pro-social justice side.

Why are hedge fund moguls such as Peter G. Peterson of the Blackstone Group and David Rubenstein of the Carlyle Group on the PBS Charlie Rose Show making their case for reduction of Social Security and Medicare benefits?  It is rather simple.  They see trillions of dollars in capital sitting in the Social Security Trust Fund and through a reduction in Medicare benefits they see trillions more for themselves in inflated medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and other ventures.

The history of Rubenstein and the Carlyle Group should tell us exactly what they are up to.  After serving in the Carter White House, Rubenstein used his connections to set up a private equity group in Washington, D.C.  He formed a partnership with former secretaries of defense (e.g. Harold Brown), the Bush family, the Saudi Royal family and so on and so forth.  Initially, they bought companies that were primarily doing business as defense contractors.  In other words, they became rich from taxpayer funded defense programs.

How rich?  David Rubenstein has purchased an original copy of the Magna Carta for $21 million.  He is considered one of the wealthiest people in the World.  He and the Carlyle Group will continue to reap benefit from tax dollars poured into useless and inordinately expensive military programs.  But they see real potential in the medical-industrial complex.  Wall Street is literally drooling over what is coming down the road in medical technology.

If that $3 trillion sitting in the SSTF is made available and a reduction in Medicare benefits frees up trillions, taxpayers can pour more into medical devices, pharmaceuticals, bio-engineering, transplantation, and the like.  As beneficiaries receive less in reimbursement for treatment, more taxpayer provided capital will be available for purchase of over-priced products and services.

Here is the ongoing lie told by the Wall Street tycoons that see another fortune in medical care:  “Social Security and Medicare are unfunded liabilities in the amount of $57 trillion.”  They also attempt to include Social Security as part of the Federal Budget.  These are lies that go unchallenged by the likes of Rose on PBS and just about everyone else in print media as well as television.

Given the nature of Social Security as a trust fund with a dedicated tax and a “pay go” rule of operation, it makes no sense to even discuss it in the context of the Federal deficit.  In fact, it is now, and has been through most of its history, “off budget,” which means that it cannot be considered in the calculation of the budget deficit.  The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1990 prohibits the use of the Trust Funds for any purpose in the unified budget, including calculation of the deficit.  These provision were included in the Budget Enforcement Act, a sub-part of OBRA.