Playing Politics With Social Security

Progress Report, 1/18/05: SOCIAL SECURITY, Playing Politics; HEALTH CARE, Leavitt's Conflicting Interests

WHITE HOUSE CONFIRMATION:...This weekend, White House spokesman Dan Bartlett was asked about using the Social Security Administration to help the president convince Americans the system is in crisis. He replied, "There is no expectation that career employees would be asked to advocate on behalf of any specific prescription for Social Security." Look closely – that's a non-denial. True, the Social Security Administration stops short of directly advocating the "specific" White House plan. It does, however, cite the findings of a plan similar to the president's. And whipping up public fears about the nonexistent crisis adds to the drumbeat, assisting the president in scaring up public support for his privatization plan...

Other Stuff:"[Saddam Hussein] had a lot of time to move stuff, a lot of time to hide stuff."
–- Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, 6/24/04

VERSUS

Officials "familiar with the search" say "US authorities have found no evidence that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein transferred WMD or related equipment out of Iraq."
–- AP, 1/18/05

IRAQ –- MISSING THE MOMENT: Calling November's election an "accountability moment," President Bush said last week there was no need to reprimand any administration officials responsible for the mistakes and misjudgments in planning for the Iraq war and its aftermath. "The American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq," President Bush said, "and they looked at the two candidates and chose me, for which I'm grateful." Exit polls from Nov. 2 showed that those who cited Iraq as the most important election issue actually voted overwhelmingly for President Bush's opponent, John Kerry. Also, a University of Maryland study from October found that the vast majority of Bush supporters incorrectly believed that WMDs or a major weapons program had been found in Iraq, and that Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda. Moreover, 58 percent of Bush supporters said the U.S. should not have invaded Iraq "if US intelligence had concluded that Iraq was not making WMD or providing support to al Qaeda."