One of the intellectual gurus behind Bush’s social security plans has withdrawn his support for private accounts. Right now, I’d be happy to have real cuts, Pozen’s means-testing scheme, and voluntary add-on accounts. Bush could claim victory – and he’d be right. It would be a victory to wrestle social security onto a more secure footing. Then maybe we can get to grips with the Medicare nightmare.
GAY MARRIAGE POLLS: A skeptical overview. Bottom line: Gallagher is empirically wrong.
JEFFERSON’S SAUCER: A nice anecdote about Washington and Jefferson sent to me by a reader:
There was a famous dinner meeting between Washington and Jefferson at which they deliberated the need for a bicameral legislature, with Jefferson suggesting the superiority of a one-chamber model. There are many different accounts of the words exchanged, but they are all something like this:
After much discussion around the tea table, Washington turned sharply to Jefferson and said, “You, sir, have just demonstrated the superior excellence of a bi-cameral system by your own hand.” “Oh, how is that?” asked Jefferson. “You have poured your tea from your cup out into the saucer to cool. We want the bi-cameral system to cool things.”
Should we break that saucer now? Do we really want to make the Senate more like the House?
EMAIL OF THE DAY: “The more I read of your blog lately and your dual points about 1) decrying torture and 2) decrying Islamic (and Christian) extremism and supporting the war on terror, the more I think: keep it up.
Why is it that both the Left and the Right have barricaded themselves into these emotionally extreme (and indefensible) positions? They’re either willing to ignore the danger we face in order to score political points, or throw away the very humanitarian values we’re supposedly fighting for. It strikes me as terribly important (and necessary) that there be some voices out there who can argue both the morality of the war as well as the necessity of policing that morality.”
The Dish 