God bless Paul Krugman

after wading through the chest-deep bullshit that characterizes so much of "news" these days, it's incredibly refreshing to read paul krugman... what a straight shooter... he's a wonderful argument for cloning... (did i just say that...?) anyway, he issues a stern warning and we would all be well-advised to heed it...

[Social Security] privatization seems to be dead for the time being. The Democratic leadership in Congress defied the punditocracy - which was very much in favor of privatization - by refusing to cave in, and the American people made it clear that they like Social Security the way it is.

But the campaign for privatization provided an object lesson in how the administration sells its policies: by misrepresenting its goals, lying about the facts and abusing its control of government agencies. These were the same tactics used to sell both tax cuts and the Iraq war.

And there are two reasons to study that lesson. One is to be prepared for whatever comes next on Mr. Bush's agenda. Despite the tough talk about Iran, I don't think he can propose another war - there aren't enough troops to fight the wars we already have. But there's still room for another big domestic initiative, probably tax reform.

Forewarned is forearmed: the real goals of reform won't be as advertised, the administration will say things about the current system that aren't true, and the Treasury Department will function in a purely partisan capacity.

as my grandma used to say, quoting an (extremely) old commercial, bushco's got more tricks up its sleeve than carter has pills... (dating myself, i actually remember that commercial... it was for carter's little liver pills...)

Submit To Propeller
Tweet