"Russell Redenbaugh is a bright guy who has twice the IQ I have," Kirsanow said. But he disagrees with Redenbaugh's assertion that a majority of commissioners will not support financial reform.
"The financial crisis has been discussed in the January and February meetings," he said. "This Friday, we plan to have a discussion on how to implement these reforms."
But Redenbaugh, a management consultant in Philadelphia, said he is dismayed that the commission did not commit its entire meeting to discussing the finances that staff director Kenneth L. Marcus has described as "a very difficult challenge." He said the planned discussion on Social Security, federal contracts and race in schools is premature and appears to follow years of partisan pursuits.
In his resignation letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), Redenbaugh said that he "endured excessive partisanship" under Berry, the ousted liberal chairman, and that he "railed against slanted reports and exposed the commission's unaccountability to the taxpayer. I remained on the commission often in dissent, but always committed to reform."
"Unfortunately, chronic mismanagement and a fatally flawed organizational structure eliminates the commission's institutional capacity to even participate in" a discussion about reform, Redenbaugh said in his letter. "The commission, once the nation's conscience, is now a national embarrassment beyond repair."
To his surprise, Redenbaugh said in an interview yesterday, the commissioners seemed no more willing to implement financial reforms after the board changed from liberal to conservative hands at the beginning of the year.
Reynolds declined to say how the proposals for the studies came up for review and who supports them. His co-chairman, Abigail Thernstrom, said the study of federal contracts was proposed before Berry left, but she could not recall how the others came about.
The commission's two liberals, Elsie M. Meeks and Michael Yaki, said they were not part of those talks. Yaki, who was appointed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) a few weeks ago, said he asked who broached the ideas but received no answer.
Henderson, Yaki and others who are generally opposed to Social Security changes say they are concerned about the commission's reliance on the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute.
The groups' research supports Bush's contention that Social Security shortchanges African Americans because their life spans are shorter than those of white beneficiaries. That assertion was roundly condemned by AARP and the NAACP.
Yaki wondered how the commission could analyze the restructuring of Social Security when the president has yet to offer a plan. "The project scope itself seems biased to give a result that will provide cover for the administration's current efforts to privatize Social Security," he said.
Thernstrom said the conclusions of studies undertaken by the board should be impartial.
"If I have my way, whatever's generated by the commission, you won't be able to put a Republican or Democrat label on them," she said.
