Social Security Privatization Is Back - Thanks To McCain

There's no question that Barack Obama is going to meet some resistance among older voters. I see it in my own family. And if this race were strictly personality-driven, I would expect that resistance to continue. But considering the fact that John McCain believes completely in Social Security privatization and gambling on the stock market with our seniors' future, I can't imagine how this resistance will hold.

Sen. John McCain didn't get the memo about the Republican charade to pretend their Social Security plans shouldn't be called "privatization".

Last Thursday, at the Loeb First Amendment Award Dinner in New Hamphire (aired on C-Span's "Road To The White House '08"), there was this exchange with an audience member:

Q: Will privatizing Social Security be a priority for you going forward? [...]

McCAIN: ...Without privatization, I don't see how you can possibly, over time, make sure that young Americans are able to receive Social Security benefits.

That was back in 2004, before Democrats successfully beat back Bush's efforts. McCain's on the trail now saying he won't privatize the program, but he's calling for younger workers to invest in "personal accounts," which is exactly the same thing.



Barack Obama is all over St. Maverick today on this, and it's a winning position for any Democrat.

"He said he supports private accounts for Social Security - in his words, 'along the lines that President Bush proposed,'" Obama will say in Philadelphia, according to pre-released excerpts. "Yesterday he tried to deny that he ever took that position, leaving us wondering if he had a change of heart or a change of politics."

McCain's starting to have a pretty serious flip-flopper problem. He's tried to shift on private accounts, he's completely incoherent on illegal wiretapping, he's gone around the bend on the estate tax, and as Steve Benen has amply demonstrated, this is just part of an ever-expanding list.

McCain's core principles include endless military action and occupation. On other issues, he'll say whatever he can to get elected.