Commencement, Christian-Style

In one of the least-covered presidential speeches of recent history, Bush dropped by the Grand Hyatt hotel yesterday to talk to the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America. Here's the text of his speech. Nedra Pickler writes for the Associated Press: "President Bush served as pitchman in chief Thursday as he touted his Social Security plan to a roomful of salesmen." Steve Holland writes for Reuters: "Despite a sag in the stock market this year, President Bush said on Thursday that private retirement accounts as part of Social Security would draw a higher rate of return than the current system." Bush once again insisted that the current Social Security system delivers a paltry 1.8 percent "real rate of return" on payroll taxes. I'm trying to figure out where he came up with that number, since Social Security benefits can vary so wildly simply based on how long someone lives, not to mention countless other factors. And Bush again talked about how the Social Security trust fund doesn't really exist. This time, he played it for laughs: "First, as I travel the country, I find out some people think there's such thing as a Social Security trust. By that I mean we collect your money through the payroll tax, and we hold your money for you, and then when you retire, we give you your money back. No -- (laughter) -- that's not the way it works. That's what you call a -- it was set up as a pay-as-you-go system, in other words, you pay and we go ahead and spend. (Laughter.) You pay through payroll taxes, and we spend your payroll taxes on making sure we cover the benefits of the retirees. And with the money leftover, like there's money leftover now, we spend it on other government programs. "So instead of having a trust, we have a pay-as-you-go system, and that which exists in the system is a filing cabinet, or a series of filing cabinets, full of IOUs. In other words, we've got paper." The irony of the president of the United States mocking the value of promises represented by pieces of paper -- in front of an audience full of insurance agents! -- was apparently lost on everyone, including the journalists in attendance.

The Man Behind the President

Jackie Calmes writes in the Wall Street Journal, about Charles P. 'Chuck' Blahous III, "the self-described geek behind President Bush's foundering plan to revamp Social Security." Calmes writes that Blahous's influence on the president has been enormous. "He . . . helped persuade the president to reject the arguments of some conservatives who say that creating private accounts alone can fix Social Security, without more painful changes in benefits and taxes. That has drawn him the wrath of longtime White House allies who now worry that Mr. Bush might agree to benefit and tax changes to keep Social Security solvent, and drop private accounts. . . . "While higher-ranking advisers spend more time with the president, they use Mr. Blahous's talking points. 'He's our ongoing rabbi,' says chief White House strategist Karl Rove. The usually circumspect Mr. Blahous once told a friend that during briefings, Mr. Bush would sometimes smile and say, 'I'm getting it, aren't I?' "

Powell Comes Back to Bite Cheney

Douglas Jehl writes in the New York Times: "President Bush on Thursday issued a strong new defense of John R. Bolton, his nominee as ambassador to the United Nations. But associates of Colin L. Powell, the former secretary of state, said he had expressed reservations about Mr. Bolton in conversations with at least two wavering Republican senators. . . . "Mr. Powell was secretary of state under Mr. Bush for nearly four years, and told associates in 2004 that he was looking forward to returning to private life. But he was described by some associates as hurt that Mr. Bush, in selecting Ms. Rice as the new secretary, did not ask Mr. Powell if he wanted to stay. "Mr. Powell remains highly regarded by many moderate Republicans, but as secretary of state, his relationship with Vice President Dick Cheney was notably strained, according to many accounts, including a detailed narrative in 'Plan of Attack,' the latest book by Bob Woodward of The Washington Post. "Mr. Cheney is now regarded as Mr. Bolton's chief patron in the administration, and some officials say he has strongly resisted the idea that the White House might withdraw the nomination in the face of Democratic complaints and Republican wavering."

The Power of the White House

Andrew Balls in the Financial Times mulls the Bush administration's sudden shift of position on China's currency last week -- reversing a longstanding Treasury Department approach -- and concludes: "The sharp change was the clearest sign yet that economic policy in President George W. Bush's second term is going to be led firmly from the White House. A tight team of close associates of the president is calling the shots, say current and former administration officials. "This group consists of Dick Cheney, vice-president, Andrew Card, the president's chief of staff, Joshua Bolten, director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Karl Rove, the president's political adviser who has assumed a broader co-ordinating role, including overseeing economic policy. . . . "The White House inner circle is widely acknowledged to consist of very smart people. But they are not economists and do not have financial market backgrounds. Some current and former administration officials worry that when the decisions are taken, there is often no economist in the room."

Plame Watch

Investigative reporter Murray Waas writes in his blog: "Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez has sent a letter to the House Intelligence Committee denying a request by nine committee Democrats seeking information about the Valerie Plame case. . . . "In the letter, Gonzalez asserted that the Justice Department would not provide any information to members of Congress as long as a criminal investigation of the Plame matter was still ongoing." Gonzales of course wouldn't know anything about it himself, at least not officially. He recused himself from the investigation shortly after being sworn in, since he had been involved in the case as White House legal counsel and testified before the grand jury himself.

Advice to the Press Corps

Garrett M. Graff writes in his FishbowlDC blog about CNN President Jon Klein's keynote address to the National Association of Broadcasters' convention in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Among other things, Klein berated the White House Correspondents Association for staying out of the business of credentialing members of the White House press corps, even after the Jeff Gannon affair. "When a fake reporter infiltrates the White House press corps, who suffers most? The White House? No, the press corps. Because it's another reason for the public not to believe what they see and hear. It turns 'The Gaggle' into a gag. And a bad one at that. "I have a modest proposal for The White House Correspondents Association, whose annual black-tie gala I eagerly await next week: cancel the gala, and instead spend that time and energy creating standards -- and enforcing them -- for those who would call themselves White House correspondents."

Briefing Room Renovation