Return of the Swift vets

The people who discredited John Kerry have set their aim at foes of
overhauling Social Security

Edtorial
First published: Tuesday, February 22, 2005

So much for a reprieve. So much for a cease-fire.

President Bush is determined to spend his second-term political capital
on a radical transformation of the Social Security system. That much
he's entitled to, of course, by virtue of his re-election victory over
Sen. John Kerry.

What's troubling is just who it is that wants to help Mr. Bush with his
Social Security plan. The lobbying group USA NEXT has hired several
people who were paid consultants to last summer's campaign to smear and
distort Mr. Kerry's record in Vietnam. The tactics of Swift Boat
Veterans for Truth, as it was then known, are well-represented in the
ranks of the lobbying group.

Attack politics are back, it seems. And why wouldn't they be? They
work. The attack on Mr. Kerry, and his hesitation in responding
appropriately, was one of the critical moments in the presidential
campaign.

With reinforcements in from the anti-Kerry group, USA NEXT -- already a
formidable pro-Republican lobbying outfit -- has set its sights on the
enemy in the Social Security battle. It's the AARP.

Now, the American Association of Retired Persons isn't some innocent
figure in a brutal political game. It, too, is a powerful lobbying
group. It has 35 million members and already has spent $5 million on
ads opposing private Social Security accounts. Another $5 million ad
blitz is about to begin.

The point is that the future of Social Security ought to be decided in
a more enlightened and substantive manner than a take-no-prisoners game
of charges and countercharges. An honest debate is needed instead. The
solution is likely to require compromise, not verbal warfare.

Yet, here's Charlie Jarvis, president of USANEXT and a former Interior
Department official under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W.
Bush, declaring that AARP is a "boulder in the middle of the highway to
personal savings accounts," and that his group will be the "dynamite
that removes them."

"We are going to take them on in hand-to-hand combat," Mr. Jarvis tells
The New York Times. One wonders why, if, in fact, AARP is as weak as he
says it is -- "stodgy, overweight, bureaucratic and out of touch."

Lest anyone doesn't get his point, Mr. Jarvis says "it's an honor to be
equated with the Swift boat guys."

Oh, and little will be accomplished by the usual denials of
associations, from the White House or anywhere else. Again, Mr. Jarvis:

"We don't like asking anyone for permission to do anything. We totally
support the President's boldness on Social Security, but we don't
coordinate with the White House or the Hill. We know the people at the
White House agree with us and we agree with them."

Lethal politics are alive and well.

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=335343&category=OPINION&BCCode=&newsdate=2/22/2005