> William S. Lear wrote: > > >At the end of last month, Paul Phillips asked about reasons to oppose > >privatizing social security. Today on CSPAN I saw something I hadn't > >seen before. A very trim, well-dressed and articulate gentleman, who > >repeatedly stressed to the audience that he was "a good conservative > >Republican", royally reamed the ideas for privatizing social security. > > > >The forum, held Tuesday the 14th, was entitled "Social Security > >Privatization" and was chaired by the National Committee to Preserve > >Social Security (a DC-based group). Martha McSteen, the president, > >either chaired or also gave a presentation (I only caught a bit of the > >whole show and didn't see her speak but a few sentences). The > >economist was identified as John Mueller, Vice President of Lehrman, > >Bell, Mueller, and Cannon. He presented, from what I gather, a > >summary of three of his papers he had prepared. He seemed confident, > >well-prepared, and was able to easily (from my perspective) answer > >objections thrown up from the audience. > > Weird. Lehrman Bell is usually considered a right-wing hypermonetarist > firm. Weird indeed. Interesting but not necessarily weird. The McSteen group is very well-financed. They have made their fortune by focusing relentlessly on Social Security and Medicare, and damn the consequences for anything else in the Federal budget, quite unlike AARP (who tend to play ball with other liberal groups). They might have simply bought the papers. Chances are the papers are useful, as the Cttee's stuff usually is, up to a point. MBS ================================================== Max B. Sawicky Economic Policy Institute [EMAIL PROTECTED] Suite 1200 202-775-8810 (voice) 1660 L Street, NW 202-775-0819 (fax) Washington, DC 20036 Opinions here do not necessarily represent the views of anyone associated with the Economic Policy Institute. ===================================================
