Tuesday, March 1, 2005

Lowering the bar During today's White House press conference, Scott McClellan said the following about Bush's plan for Social Security reform: So right now, if you look at people that are below the retirement age, I think many of those people, particularly those my generation and younger, don't think they're going to have any Social Security retirement benefits when they retire. And so you have to look at what the options are. Under the current system, you're facing severe benefit cuts. We want to strengthen it and give them a new benefit, so they can realize closer to what was promised. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the last clause plainly imply the following about what the President intends for his reform plan? (1) It will involve a reduction in promised benefits. (2) The best we can expect to receive under it is an amount close to but less than what is promised under the current system. And if so, isn't that news? Administration officials and prominent Republicans have hinted at benefit cuts, but they always float the possibility that people will make more than what is promised through successful investments. The quote suggests that the goal of the plan is only to get closer to the promised benefits. It's also the clearest public statement I'm aware of that benefits cuts are basic to the plan. 11:13:06 PM    comment [] The General According to Eric Lichtblau of the NY Times, recently confirmed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has had to adjust to a new title: Three weeks into his new job as attorney general, Mr. Gonzales said Monday that he had to make "a few adjustments" in moving from President Bush's White House counsel to the official in charge of 110,000 employees at the Justice Department. A former enlisted man in the Air Force, Mr. Gonzales said one of the more unsettling changes was having employees call him by the title of "general," as they did with Mr. Ashcroft. (He prefers "Judge Gonzales," a nod to his days on the Texas Supreme Court.) I suppose if Gonzales hadn't received confirmation, the White House could have then nominated Tommy Franks. I'm looking forward to the day when "General" John Ashcroft (ret.) appears as a GWOT expert on Fox News. [You think I'm joking?] 3:42:36 PM    comment [] Fugly is the new pretty There's some very funny writing going on at Go Fug Yourself on awards show fashion. The comments sections are especially good. Several times in his novels, PKD goes out of his way to describe women's fashion as symptomatic of our decadent, absurdist future. The waitress in a typical PKD diner, for example, tends to dress like Lil' Kim. Click on the link, and join the fun. Comment enough and you'll feel like you live in L.A. [Thanks to CH] 11:17:25 AM    comment []

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