SOCIAL SECURITY NEWS….Via Social Security Central Josh Marshall, two separate but weirdly related stories:
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The deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration has been roaming the country to appear with Republican congressmen at events designed to promote private accounts. Is this unacceptably political? Of course not. He says (a) he’s only there to provide information, not shill for the administration, and (b) he’d do it for Democrats too but none of them have asked.
Roger that. You’d think, though, that perhaps some lower level drone might be all that’s necessary if it’s just pure wonkish information they’re after.
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Thomas Saving, one of the seven trustees of the Social Security Administration (he was appointed by Bill Clinton in 2000), “has just signed on to be an advisor and spokesman for one of the lead pro-Social Security phase-out astroturf groups, Progress for America.”
Saving has been a privatization advocate for a long time, and I guess you could argue that the trustees are all political folks anyway. Still, this is a little brazen, isn’t it? Shouldn’t trustees at least draw the line at being paid lobbyists for the very program they’re charged with protecting?
And don’t forget the infamous SSI hold recording. I guess this finally explains what Karl Rove is talking about when he waxes nostalgic for the McKinley era. After all, this view of government as a mere personal appendage of the president wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow back then.
