or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
•
"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
July 09, 2008
I Defend John McCain For The First And Hopefully Last Time
(UPDATE: This post is completely wrong; as Jason Lefkowitz points out below, it's clear McCain literally has no idea how Social Security works.)
Here's John McCain on Monday, rambling on about Social Security:
MCCAIN: Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today. And that's a disgrace. It's an absolute disgrace, and it's got to be fixed.
Of course, Social Security has always worked by "paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers." Thus, many people—including Dean Baker, Josh Marshall, Bob Somerby and Matthew Yglesias—are saying McCain was calling Social Security itself "a disgrace."
However, if you read the quote in context, it's clear McCain meant the disgrace isn't the basic mechanism of Social Security, but that today's young workers are paying taxes for which they may not get their promised benefits.
The rest of McCain's Social Security bloviations are an incredible farrago of deceit you could spend the 100 years unraveling. But on this minor point, he actually is being treated unfairly by people who've let the situation get the best of them, cognitively-speaking.
ALSO: I guarantee conservatives will obsess about McCain being horribly mistreated by liberals here, and it will become yet another example of how monsters perceive themselves as martyrs.
AND: This type of behavior on my part is how I keep winning.
—Jonathan Schwarz
Posted at July 9, 2008 09:31 AM ... it's clear McCain meant the disgrace isn't the basic mechanism of Social Security, but that today's young workers are paying taxes for which they may not get their promised benefits.
Have to side with Mr. Somerby on this one. It's not clear at all, and the full statement is full of distortions.
Instead of "it's clear", you might say "one could reasonably infer". Your interpretation is a fair reading, but not the only one. Honestly, McCain is not very good at saying what he means these days. Why give him the benefit of the doubt when his whole campaign is about obscuring his unpopular positions on important issues?
Posted by: dcs at July 9, 2008 10:59 AMThe ONLY thing ANYBODY wants who wants to "reform" Social Security is to loot the money bags.
The oiligarchs and aristos HATE it that there's this big pool of money lying around doing nothing but supporting geezers.
They want it ALL, and any effort to 'reform' Social Security, no matter what you call it, is an effort to destroy the sustem and steal the money...
yes folks it is that simple...
Posted by: woody, tokin librul at July 9, 2008 11:48 AMSocial Security is NOT a contract. Congress can mail YOU whatever benefit they want. The President WILL collect that TAX. ALL extra buys T-Bills, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING broken.
Posted by: Mike Meyer at July 9, 2008 12:00 PM
