Kirk Watson: “Washington Republicans cannot have it both ways on Social Security. Since the beginning of this year, President Bush and…”

“Washington Republicans cannot have it both ways on Social Security. Since the beginning of this year, President Bush and House Republicans have been telling everyone who will listen that Social Security is going broke. President Bush went so far as to take a field trip to West Virginia to show the American people that there really is not a trust fund where all the surplus Social Security funds are kept. Of course, the President was being dishonest. The vault is filled with Treasury bonds that must be paid back to Social Security in the years to come. Regardless, he went to West Virginia and told the American people that the Social Security trust fund did not exist. So now Congressional Republicans have come up with a brilliant idea: Create private accounts with the money that exists in the trust fund. Who are Congressional Republicans trying to fool? It is clear that the Congressional Republicans are determined to privatize Social Security, despite very little support for the idea. ____________________”