Bush: Heck, I've Been Lying For Years

Thanks to A Hidden Saint for reminding us that Bush had plans to privatize Social Security before the election, but when it proved politcally damaging he called everyone within sight liars and insisted it wasn't true. This is from a Salon article about the fallout from a NYT Magazine feature.

Per Slate 10/19/04: "The latest volley came over the weekend when Republican campaign officials accused the Times Sunday magazine of fabricating a provocative quote from Bush in which he bragged -- behind closed doors and speaking to wealthy supporters -- that he would announce plans for "privatizing of Social Security" early next year, after his reelection. When Democrats jumped on the remark, dubbing it the "January surprise," Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie dismissed the Times' work as "Kitty Kelley journalism," insisting Bush never uttered the phrase attributed to him. But the Times stands by the 8,300-word story by Ron Suskind, author of "The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House and the Education of Paul O'Neill," a revealing account of the former secretary of the treasury published earlier this year."

Questions for Bush:

1.Why did you lie right before the election? It's especially obvious you're lying because of the numerous features you've cooperated in the last few weeks in which your fascination with dismantling -- excuse me, reforming -- Social Security has been a pet project of yours since you were Governor of Texas.
2.Why did you deny it in October 2004?
3. Why weren't you straight with the American people?
4. Will you apologize to the New York Times and Ron Suskind?
5. If Social Security is in crisis, why do you refuse to offer a detailed plan of your own?

Questions for the New York Times:

1. What is wrong with you? We may have forgotten about this fracas, but surely YOU didn't. The second Bush proposed dismantling Social Security, the NYT should have been all over him, repeating the story it had run in October and Bush's heated denials and the truth. Why wouldn't they trumpet their own reporting? And if they had, Bush would have been on the defensive from the very start.

Finally, can we all agree to refuse any attempt to call what Bush is doing as reforming or fixing Social Security? What Bush is proposing is DISMANTLING Social Security, pure and simple, replacing a safety net with a "good luck" and a pat on the back for the elderly.