BUSH’S VISION….President Bush tells the nation about his, um, vision for Social Security:
THE PRESIDENT: I have not laid out a plan yet, intentionally. I have laid out principles….
Q: But, sir, but Democrats have made it pretty clear that they’re not interested in that. They want you to lay it out. And so, what I’m asking is, don’t ?
THE PRESIDENT: I’m sure they do. The first bill on the Hill always is dead on arrival. I’m interested in coming up with a permanent solution. I’m not interested in playing political games.
Fine. But can we now please stop bellyaching about how the Democrats don’t have any ideas because they aren’t willing to put a plan on the table? If the President agrees that the first bill on the Hill is dead on arrival, Democrats would have to be pretty stupid to offer up a sacrificial lamb of their own, wouldn’t they?
And for anyone who still doesn’t get it, here are the competing “visions”:
Bush: Private accounts in which people assume the risk of investing their retirement savings is a must. Everything else is on the table.
Democrats: Guaranteed minimum retirement benefits are a must. Everything else is on the table.
That’s not so hard, is it? Both sides have perfectly comprehensible positions, and Democrats are being no more closed minded than Republicans. They just have a different idea of whether safety net retirement benefits are an appropriate place for investment risk.
