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The Gasbag

I've commented frequently on that old gasbag David Broder, affectionately referred to by D.C. types as "the dean," although I've tried to limit myself of late. But I had a good feeling as I started today's column, as "the dean" has finally gotten around to reading the speech Clinton gave earlier this month (who's in a hurry to read such things when your job is political commentary, right?) -- and boy, is he just wee-weeing all over himself!

Here's my favorite part:

Clinton bluntly says Democrats should stop defending the status quo and instead consider changes that would "increase the rate of return" on Social Security. They could follow the model of the government employees' retirement system (as long-championed by some conservative think tanks) and give people the option, "with 1 or 2 percent of the payroll tax," to invest in one of three mutual funds "that almost always perform as well or better than the market," while at the same time permitting cautious investors the option of buying government bonds, so they could "get the guaranteed Social Security return and 100 percent safety."

That was one of the possible changes recommended last year by a presidential commission co-chaired by former Democratic senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York. But few Democrats have embraced the idea or buckled down to the task of figuring out how to finance the transition to that new system without reducing benefits to those either on Social Security or soon to join its ranks. So they have left the door open for Republicans to champion a reform that is attractive to many younger workers.

Isn't that great?!

I mean, it wasn't as if Bill Clinton were President for 8 years or so, and could have established his legacy by enacting social security reform even half as sweeping as what is being proposed here (and most likely with bipartisan support), was it? Naahhh, surely not.

But how nice of The Gasbag to suggest that Democrats have "left the door open" for Republicans on this issue! It's not as if the GOP and non-liberal think-tanks like Heritage and Cato have been advocating some form of social security privatization for many years, is it? Naahhh.... surely not.

Dean... Gasbag... whatever.

[Posted at 23:01 CST on 12/15/02] [Link]

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