Novak falsely claimed that Bush and other Republicans "never said" Social

[rodeodance]

Security should be privatized.


Lets all email this to Novak--that pious slimeball.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200504250010

[e-mail]
Crossfire


Novak falsely claimed that Bush and other Republicans "never said" Social Security should be privatized


On the April 21 edition of CNN's Crossfire, co-host Robert Novak challenged Democratic strategist Steve McMahon to "name me one" Republican who has ever said "let's privatize Social Security." When McMahon responded that President Bush has done so, Novak exclaimed, "That's a lie!" Novak defended his statement by suggesting a distinction between Bush's plan for private Social Security accounts and "privatization."

In fact, Bush, members of his administration, and other Republicans have advocated "privatization" of Social Security on numerous occasions. As ABC's World News Tonight reported on October 30, 2002, while campaigning for the presidency in 2000 Bush equated private accounts with "privatization": "What privatization does, it allows the individual worker his or her choice to set money aside in a managed account." Since then, Bush has repeatedly advocated the creation of private accounts. At a Republican fund-raiser in September 2004, Bush stated that he wanted to offer younger workers "a private account that they can call their own, a private account they can pass on to the next generation, and a private account that government can't take away."

Karl Rove, a senior adviser to Bush, also equated private accounts with privatization in comments prior to the 2000 vice-presidential debate, suggesting that the two terms are essentially interchangeable. From the August 13, 2000, broadcast of CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer:

ROVE: Oh, I think Dick Cheney is going to do great. Because he is going to have a debate not only with Joe Lieberman, but with, for example on Medicare reform, Cheney and Lieberman supported the bipartisan commission on Medicare reform; Al Gore opposed it. On Social Security privatization, encouraging private personal retirement accounts, Cheney was for them. .....

[jamesinca]

1. This one is easy

None of them ever said "social security should be privatized". They said it in a less direct way, that will be Novak's out on this one. They implied it, they used it as the definition of something, but they never said it directly.

[Nite Owl]

2. Jon Stewart could have fun with that one

We all know how he just loves Novak!

[Atman]

3. He is playing Bush-style semantics, pure and simple.

He is correct. Bush never said he wants to "privatize social security." That is, in fact, completely correct. What Bush wants to do is take a portion of Social Security funds and have them re-directed to Wall Street via the creation of private accounts into which citizens could invest some money ostensibly for retirement. Social Security would not be privatized, just this new, massively expensive and destructive beaurocracy would be created.

Novak is 100% correct, but he is also 100% playing games with words. I just don't why he wasn't called on this...it is obvious an easily pointed out.

[nodictators]

4. Bush DID say "privatize Social Security" 3 times

Washington Post reporters had a 1-on-1 interview with Bush on Air Force One late last year or early this year. Bush claimed he hadn't ever said "privatize." The Washington Post reporters reminded him that he had, 3 times. And they wrote it up in their paper.

It's Bush and Novak who are 100% WRONG!

[FourStarDemocrat]

6. I've heard Bush say that some could opt to invest all of their funds, not

just some. I don't have links, though, sorry.

[leesa]

5. This semantics trip is getting really old...just like a bunch of 6 year

olds trying to con their parents or teachers with 'sleight of word'. Utterly pathetic.