I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but I thought if there was one issue that congressional Dems could be united on, it would be the drive to protect Social Security. Apparently not.
President Bush’s call for private accounts within Social Security drew an early expression of bipartisan support Tuesday when Florida Rep. Allen Boyd stepped forward to the disappointment of Democratic leaders.
“There are some of us who are willing to work across party lines” on legislation to repair Social Security’s solvency, he said.
“This is the only bipartisan bill that I know of,” Boyd added at a news conference where he said he would serve as the chief Democratic supporter of legislation drafted by Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe of Arizona.
Of course, it’s the only “bipartisan” bill because Boyd, at least so far, is the only Dem dumb enough to support a plan that would undermine the most popular and most successful social program in American history.
In fact, the Kolbe/Boyd scheme is even more aggressive than Bush’s $2 trillion plan.
Indeed, the Kolbe/Boyd model would require Americans under 55 to invest some of their payroll taxes in a private account. (No word on whether Kolbe and Boyd would offer a tax credit so we could all afford stock brokers and accountants.)
There’s no obvious reason for Boyd to pursue such lunacy. He represents a conservative Florida district, but he’s never really faced a tough fight. It’s not as if embracing this Social Security scheme is necessary for his political survival. Indeed, his support for Kolbe’s plan suggests he actually believes this nonsense.
[Boyd] said some lawmakers within his own party “didn’t understand” the consequences of failing to act, and said he hoped to educate them on the risks.
Sounds like Boyd’s the one who needs some educating. Maybe we should all send him copies of Paul Krugman’s column from yesterday’s NYT. He apparently needs it.