Quotes Of The Day - "Dude, Where's My Playbook?" Edition
Wizbang
By Kevin Aylward on Quote Of The Day
Either there's some new pages in the Democrats Social Security handbook, or these guys aren't getting the message...
"So at some point we've got to stop criticizing each other and sit at the table and work out this problem... Every year we wait to come up with a solution to the Social Security problem costs our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren $600 billion dollars more"
Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT): CNN's "Late Edition," 3/6/05
"If Social Security is left alone; benefits after 30 years would be 80 percent of what they are now ***
DNC Chairman Howard Dean on Feb. 23, 2005 at Cornell University [Link]
"It's a serious issue. We ought to address it..."
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) on ABC's "This Week," 3/6/05
"I am ready, willing, and able to listen to anything the President has to put on the table about the issue of how he is going to deal with the solvency of social security."
Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE): on NBC's "Meet The Press," 2/27/05
"We're not against solving the problem that [sen.] John Sununu (R-NH)] and i both acknowledge exists in social security. All Democrats do."
Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) on CBS' "Face The Nation," 2/27/05
" [T]he Democrats are going to have to get a better message on Social Security ... our only response cannot be to say, 'no.' . "
Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) in The Washington Post, 2/3/05
Bonus - Find out who on that list is being called a party traitor - below the break.
If you guessed Joe Liebermam, you were right! If you're looking for the term "traitor" (and other choice terms) you'll have to check the Daily Kos comment section.
*** Here's the entire story on the Dean quote.
<<<
The Cornell Daily Sun - Dean Speaks to Cornell Community
Dean began by speaking on what he thought was the most important issue today: the proposed privatization of Social Security. He said that President George W. Bush was trying to appeal to 20- and 30-year-olds through privatization, but claimed that in fact that generation would end up having to pay the $2 trillion bill for it.
"I think that privatizing Social Security has much more to do with the enormous amount of money that corporate Wall Street poured into the President of the United States's campaign than [helping] senior citizens," Dean said. "[Social Security] was a response toward [overcoming] abject poverty...it is not meant as a retirement program...it was meant as a social safety net for people who had reached the end of their working careers and did not deserve, after a long lifetime of dignified work, to live in poverty. ... It's not supposed to be a pension."
Dean pointed out that, while he would not endorse this, if Social Security were left alone for 30 years, its benefits would be reduced to 80 percent of what it is now. He acknowledged that while there were indeed problems with the program, turning to Wall Street was not the answer.
>>>
I fail to see how Novak misquotes Dean. He took a piece of the Cornell Sun coverage and presented it. If Dean presents the case that if Social Security were left alone for 30 years, its benefits would be reduced to 80 percent of what it is now as fact, the prepositional endorse has no bearing on the fact. How Dean feels about the fact is rather unimportant. If, however, Dean presented that as someone else's opinion then Dean's endorsement (or lack thereof) would be important. Since the report is unclear which is the case, the best we can do is infer from the other sentences in the article that Dean does indeed believe there are problems with the Social Security system. He states as much in the last paragraph.
wizbangblog.com |
