A White House e-mail argues the case for cutting Social Security benefits promised in the future and says support must be built for investment accounts by convincing the public the system is "heading for an iceberg."
Calling President Bush's effort "one of the most important conservative undertakings of modern times," Karl Rove deputy Peter Wehner says in the e-mail that "the Social Security battle is one we can win." Doing so would advance the idea of limited government and could transform the nation's political landscape, he said...
Democrats think the White House e-mail "shows the strategy is to instill panic," said Rep. Charles Rangel (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee.
In the e-mail, Wehner, director of White House Strategic Initiatives, urged cuts in future promised benefits as the best approach to overhaul the system to private investment accounts. Failure to make the cuts would cause "short-term economic consequences," he wrote.
McClellan cautioned that Bush had not decided on an approach. But Wehner's e-mail implied that the White House was further along in its planning than it has claimed.
Republicans just hate those safety nets for those of us who are not affluent. Just tonight California's Gropenator stated his intention to do away with pensions for state workers.
