Bush’s failures in making his Social Security pitch include a variety of astounding elements, but for me the most surprising is the White House’s inability to craft a clear, consistent message. These guys eat, sleep, and breathe message discipline, but on the president’s signature domestic policy goal, they can’t keep their pitch on track.
On different days, for example, we’ll hear competing messages on whether payroll tax increases could be part of Bush’s plan. Indeed, on different days, we’ll hear competing messages about whether Bush even has a plan.
Yesterday, the inconsistencies reached an almost silly level with John Snow.
U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Wednesday he was confused by resistance to the Bush administration’s plans to overhaul the Social Security system, while protesters blasted the proposed private retirement accounts during his stop in Montana.
Snow, in remarks to the Chamber of Commerce in Bozeman, said he believed personal accounts for young workers would be cost-free for the existing Social Security system and would not affect benefits to retirees or near-retirees.
Cost-free? That’s the opposite of what Dick Cheney argued last month.
Vice President Cheney acknowledged yesterday that the federal government would need to borrow trillions of dollars over the next few decades to cover the cost of the personal retirement accounts at the heart of President Bush’s plan to restructure Social Security.
Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Cheney said the government would have to borrow $754 billion over the next 10 years, and conceded that the price tag would involve borrowing trillions of dollars more in subsequent decades. “That’s right. Trillions more after that,” Cheney said in response to a question.
It’s not that complicated. Even I know the spin — and I hate the idea. The Bush message is that his approach will cost trillions, but it would cost less in the long run. Or maybe that it will cost trillions, but it’s worth it to give workers private accounts. The idea that privatization would be cost-free is not only ridiculous, it’s not even part of the White House’s pitch.
Bush keeps kvetching that Dems don’t want to join him at the negotiating table. Given the past couple of months, it seems more important to get Bush’s staff and cabinet together for a discussion first. They can get their act together; then we’ll talk.