We hear from our observers <$NoAd$>on the scene that Rep. Chris Chocola’s (R) meeting in South Bend last night was a bit more raucous than this article in the South Bend Tribune lets on. And they say it was pretty raucous.
In an interview later with the Tribune, Chocola showed again that if patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel (a la Dr. Johnson), Moveon.org is the last excuse of House Republicans who get a shellacking at their Social Security townhall events. Chocola claimed that Moveon TV ads from a couple weeks ago “may have played a role in the demeanor of the South Bend session.”
(For a general overview of the mood on Social Security in the Indiana meetings — including the 
Count’s rough ride — see this piece in today’s Indianapolis Star.)
We were particularly interested in Chocola’s response to a question about raising the cap on the payroll tax. A Notre Dame professor named Marty Wolfson cited what appears to have been the SSA’s new actuarial memo (or perhaps an earlier iteration of it), which shows that eliminating the payroll tax cap would keep Social Security solvent through 2079 and beyond. Chocola replied that “if it was that easy, it would have been done already” and then went on to say that it wouldn’t make any difference anyway since the Trust Fund doesn’t really exist.
Then, according to the Tribune, Chocola attempted what can only be called a bravura performance in misunderstanding cause and effect. Chocola argued, according to Tribune reporter James Wensits, that “if the government had not borrowed the money from Social Security it would have borrowed it elsewhere, and the money would still have been spent.”
Now, if Chocola really said this, it’s one of those statements that gets so many things wrong or upside down that it’s hard to know where to begin. But let’s at least start by noting that the federal government does not have to run big annual deficits that make it harder than it need be to make good on future obligations to Social Security. Second, Chocola either doesn’t grasp or ignores the main point. Had the money not been borrowed from Social Security, the issue is not that it would still have been spent. The issue is that had the money been borrowed from anywhere else but Social Security we wouldn’t even be hearing a peep about the idea of not paying it back.
We’ll have more on the Count later — including more about why he just can’t admit that only four years ago he supported privatization of the entire Social Security program.
(ed.note: A special note of thanks to our South Bend correspondent DR.)
