Thursday, May 12, 2005

The future of Social Security reform I met Thomas Frank tonight at the local Borders, where he spoke about the paperback edition of his excellent book What's the Matter with Kansas?. In response to a questioner's optimism about the death of Social Security reform, Frank argued that the battle is far from over and noted that he is quite pessimistic. On his view, the Republicans are absolutely determined to phase-out Social Security, even if it costs them in future elections. For once they manage to get rid of it, it will be gone for good. The transition costs are so staggering that they will effectively rule out its return. 9:34:18 PM    comment [] Epistemic Authority John Bolton, intelligence expert: With a vote scheduled Thursday on his contested nomination as ambassador to the United Nations, John R. Bolton has told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that a policy maker should maintain the right to "state his own reading of the intelligence" even when it differs from that of intelligence agencies. Yes, just as PTA members may state their own readings of the science of evolution. 9:26:22 PM    comment [] What I did on my European vacation Bush reported to members of Congress today on what a fantastic experience he had in Europe and how awesome it was to see so many people who love freedom and democracy. After the report, Karl Rove gave him a gold star. 9:17:23 PM    comment []

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