Demagogue

Even as it campaigns for a "private accounts" reform proposal, this is what the White House says about the legacy of Social Security:

Social Security was one of the great moral successes of the 20th century by providing a critical foundation of income for retired and disabled workers.

So I guess the Republican Party in Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional district was slightly "off message" on Monday when it released a statement blasting Congressman Ron Kind (D-Wisc.) for honoring Social Security's 70th birthday. The statement circulated by the GOP in this western Wisconsin congressional district reads as follows:

This week Ron Kind is celebrating Social Security's 70 years ... "Ron Kind can celebrate the Socialist Ponzi scheme, house of cards, band-aid of the great depression if he wants but now it's a tourniquet on our future," says Gary Arneson, 3rd district GOP chairman.

... President Bush's principles for Social Security reform include no changes for those over 55, (and) fixing Social Security permanently ...

Well, now. Either Social Security was "one of the great moral successes of the 20th century" or it was a "Socialist Ponzi scheme." But I don't think it can be both of these.

What is particularly bizarre about the 3rd District GOP press statement is that it brands the program as a "Socialist Ponzi scheme" but only a paragraph later reassures us that Bush wants to preserve the Socialist Ponzi scheme. Huh?

At least Arneson is one Republican who is willing to tell us what he really thinks of the Social Security program.