The fingerprints of Wall Street have been all over the scam to privatize Social Security. And, rightly so, the labor movement has been targeting brokerage firms who have been whoring for the privatizaton schemes. Two of those firms—Edward D. Jones & Co., and Waddell & Reed—have felt the pressure and withdrawn from the pro-privatization coalition. Next up: Charles Schwab.

Turns out that the company’s chairman and CEO, Charles “Chuck” Schwab, is a longtime supporter of diverting Social Security funds into private accounts. According to a backgrounder put out by the AFL-CIO:

He endorsed a book on the subject in 1999. In November, Schwab officials were part of a select group of business advocates of privatization that met with White House officials about business support for the initiative. Unlike rivals Edward D. Jones & Co. and Waddell & Reed, Schwab remains a member of the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security (AWRS),the leading business-backed coalition set up to promote Social Security privatization.

Schwab also bankrolled the Cato Institute, a think tank that has long been pushing for privatization. As the AFL-CIO describes it, “A 1983 article in the Cato Journal
recommended waging ‘guerrilla warfare’ against Social Security and said financial institutions that stood to benefit would be an ‘obvious element’ in a pro-privatization constituency.”

So, more than two decades ago, the ground was being laid for financial brokerage firms, who would benefit handsomely from privatization, to play a role in the rhetorical war against Social Security.

So, here’s something to do to put the pressure on Schwab: send an e-mail to Chuckie and tell him to take his greedy hands off Social Security and stop funding the destruction of one of America’s great social achievements.