Routine 26: Fox in the Henhouse

Here's something scary about the privatization debate. And something even more frightening about how easy it would be for journalists to do their job. You know, the one they insist on not doing. Thanks to TPM for this.

"Down at the very bottom of the GOP Social Security playbook we just posted, there's a sample speech for pitching phase-out to audiences 50 and over. It starts on page 83 of the PDF document. Then if you go down to the end of the speech there's a footer that says ...

This speech was developed by

Presentation Testing, Inc.

For more information about how this speech was developed, please contact Rich Thau at Presentation Testing, Inc. at 212-760-4358.

(Before that sample speech, there's another for young voters which includes the same authorship note.)

Well, TPM reader GD typed Mr. Thau's name into google and found this PDF document in which Thau describes one of the seminars he does. And right there at the top of the document, Thau quotes himself saying: "I've testified on Capitol Hill. I have worked with many members of Congress. They are not committed to passing laws to give your employees retirement security."
___________________________________

And there you have it. The man the GOP hired to plot their Social Security strategy is one committed to destroying it. Think about that the next time you hear some Republican talking about how desperate he is to "save" the program. Bastards.