President-elect Obama visited the Washington Post yesterday – always a good idea to make friends with the hometown reporters and editors (as if his press coverage could get any friendlier).
During the meeting, the Post reports, Obama spoke about the need for Social Security and Medicare reform. Not surprising, even though the issue was once considered the Third Rail of American Politics (I just realized that spells TRAP. Cool.). What was interesting is how he spoke about it:
“‘What we have done is kicked this can down the road. We are now at the end of the road and are not in a position to kick it any further,’ he said. ‘We have to signal seriousness in this by making sure some of the hard decisions are made under my watch, not someone else’s.’”
Hard decisions made under my watch? Not kicking the problem down the road? If I read that line out of context I’d think George W. Bush had said it.
Here’s more:
“You have to have a president who is willing to spend some political capital on this. And I intend to spend some.”
As CNN’s Ed Henry recently recalled, President Bush referenced his own “political capital” when launching a Social Security blitz in 2005. Turned out it was overdrawn.
To be sure, if President Obama crafts a solution to win Congressional approval it will look much different from what President Bush crafted. The president-elect told the WaPo audience, “There are going to be very difficult choices and issues of sacrifice and responsibility and duty” – language which, when it comes from a Democrat, usually signals higher taxes.
If you doubt that, consider Obama’s brush-off reaction to the notion that fixing Social Security is difficult: “‘Social Security, we can solve,’ he said, waving his left hand.”
But of course it’s only easy to fix if you’re willing to tax workers through the teeth.
Regardless, the larger message here is clear: Given the frequency with which the current and incoming president are willing to talk about finding a long-term fix for Social Security, it appears that the Third Rail is finally out of juice.
