Strange Interlude

For pure, unadulterated weirdness, very little beats this exchange between MSNBC's Ron Insana and President George W. Insane.

Excerpts:

Ron Insana: Mr. President, thanks for talking to us today upon your return from Columbia, S.C., still on the Social Security program, reform program down there. What's the reception among the people when you go out in the towns and talks to them about it?

President Bush: You know, good where I go, but the most important group of people look at it, kinda the people at large. Do they understand we have a problem? In other words, my strategy has been to say there is a problem and now I'm gonna go explain the problem to the American people, and the problem is pretty easy.

Kinda the people at large? You mean the hand-picked, carefully screened party operatives that are the only ones allowed in your meetings>

Now here's the outright lie:

Insana: Now the Washington Post reported, though, that some of the working poor are afraid of making these investment choices in the personal savings accounts that you're offering, and that they would rather have the government just do what it's been doing for the last 70 years, and kind of take that burden away from them.

What do you tell them? How do you explain the program to them?

President Bush: Well, I would explain that if -- you know, personal accounts would be a voluntary plan. In other words, if a worker's nervous about managing his or her own money, and that's what we're talking about, his or her own money, in a conservative mix of bonds and stocks, if that makes somebody nervous, then just stay in the system, however it looks, after there's a permanent fix.

Translation: Yes, it's a voluntary plan: You can take 4% of your contributions and invest them, or you can take the benefit cut WITHOUT the investment. Take yer cherce.

[Bush]The other thing I say to the person who expresses concern is that I think the government has an obligation to explain to the working person that he or she can earn a better rate of return on her money on a conservative mix of instruments as opposed to what the government has earned.

Insana: But let me ask you about that. Last week, the stock market suffered its worst week in two years.

President Bush: Yeah.

Insana: It's been five years since we hit the all-time highs for the Dow-Jones Industrial Average or the NASDAQ. Someone joked earlier that, you know, the bad news is the stock market's going down. The good news is that my Social Security money isn't in there. Is this the wrong time to be talking about putting Social Security money into the stock market?

President Bush: No. Listen, now's the right time to talk about permanently fixing Social Security because every year we wait it costs $600 billion more for the next generation. In other words, it's going to cost that much more money a year by -- if there's political delay.

Secondly, I mean, I think most people will tell you that if you hold money over a long term, the rate of return on a conservative mix of bonds and stocks clearly is greater than that which the government earns on your behalf.

And finally, there are ways to design plans that take risk out of a plan. In other words, you switch your mix of bonds and stocks to an instrument that allow, that will take care of any market swings toward the end of your retirement, and so there's a -- look, I mean, I cannot believe that people aren't willing, andaren't willing to say to a younger worker, if you so choose, if it's your desire, you should be allowed to manage some of your own money in a personal savings account, just like congressmen and senators get to do.

Sorry, folks, but there are inherent risks in stocks and bonds -- some more, some less. But there's a reason why brokerage houses always have that disclaimer about "past performance is no guarantee of future results" in their ads. It's called a law. And Bush breaks that law every time he sells this as a sure-win bet.

[Bush]And I think most people are wise to what it means to manage money. One of the things I said in my speech [Monday] is that we're dealing with a different culture now, Ron, than when you and I grew up.

I mean, a lotta young workers are used to 401(k)s or IRAs. They're used to managing their own money and it makes sense to make sure that the Social Security system allows the younger worker that option, so that the system is a better deal for younger workers.

And a lot of young workers work in jobs that don't provide 401(k)s, and don't have enough money left after keeping a roof over their heads and gas in the 1990 Civic to contribute to an IRA. And others make high risk investments, like believing in their employer's stock when their employer is named "Enron." And when those funds don't do well, what are we going to do? Put old people out on the street?

Insana: Now let me ask you a little bit about the stock market, though, because it's had such a bad week. Is it causing you any worry, at all, with respect to what it means to the economy or, you know, what it means to your Social Security reform plan, for instance?

Well, I think the -- you know, the stock market is an indicator of people looking at value. I believe [in] this economy and I believe like most economists believe, that this economy is steady and strong. But people are constantly adjusting and I suspect some of the stock market has to do with the price of gasoline. You know, the price of crude oil tends to go up and the stock market tends to go down.

But, nevertheless, I think long term, the stock market is, will reflect the long-term strength of America.

[snip]

There's more to do. I mean, we need an energy bill. We need tort reform. I think we may get an asbestos reform piece of litig -- asbestos litigation reform.

The only thing he left out here was the Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. But look at what he just said here -- he wants companies that make dangerous products to have ZERO liability -- because that hurts the stock price. So THAT's the agenda -- have more people invested in the stock market, so they'll vote for policies that endanger their children (like allowing coal-fired power plants to belch mercury into the air) just to keep the stock prices in their "private accounts" up. Devilishly clever.

Insana: ...Would you, for instance, trade the personal savings accounts if you were promised a permanent fix for Social Security solvency problems?

President Bush: Well, I think any plan has got to have -- give younger workers an option of investing some of their own money in, in personal savings accounts. First of all, it's not going to pass [inaudible] personal savings accounts; secondly, a plan with personal savings accounts would bring the Social Security system into the modern era.

Let me say something. Social Security worked for a long time. The problem is there's fewer people paying in the system now. And a lot of us are getting ready to retire, so we have to think about modernizing the system. I want Social Security to exist and continue to exist; I just want it to reflect the 21st century. And one important ingredient is to allow younger workers to take some of their own money, set it aside in a conservative mix of bonds and stocks.

You said that George. About five times.

Insana: Would you accept those personal savings accounts as add-ons, as some Democrats are suggesting, and then work through some of the solvency issues that we're also talking about?

President Bush: Well, first of all, there needs to be a permanent fix. You keep talking about solvency issues. I agree. I mean, look, personal accounts will make the system better for younger workers. The solvency issue needs to be addressed. And, and you've heard ideas as to how to address solvency. And the Democrats have put out ideas, Republicans have put out ideas. And my job is to keep the process moving forward.

One thing I'm not going to do on your show, in all due respect, is negotiate with myself.

This guy is like a broken record. Conservative mix of stocks and bonds. Nothing about solvency. Younger workers. He has no idea what he's talking about, and we're supposed to buy this.

It goes on like this for seven appalling pages, and it gets even better. He invokes Bill Clinton in an effort to save his own bacon on this. And Ron Insana, who is not one of my favorite people, traps him into saying that there will be no benefit cuts to anyone born in 1955 or later. Then Bush corrects him to say 1950; then says "Or before." So Insana tricked him into saying "no benefit cuts." Nice work. Then Bush repeats the "paper promises" line which basically tells all of the U.S. bondholders in China, "You're gonna believe a piece of paper that tells you we're gonna pay you back? Hah!"

I'd love to see what Insana's face looked like after he finished this interview. If it were me, I'd have to check myself into a rubber room.