Did Rep. Allen Boyd

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Did Rep. Allen Boyd, the Panhandle Poltroon, get the memo?

The Dean of the Fainthearted Faction (Actually through a special motion, Boyd is now Dean of both the House and Senate Factions, because of his profound Faintheartedness) has been telling his constituents that he’s for private accounts because it’s the only responsible thing to do to make sure Social Security remains solvent for future generations.

“Keeping this vital program intact,” he said last week, “for those who depend on it today and in the future, is a commitment I will not ignore.”

But yesterday, the cosponsor of his own bill, Rep. Jim Kolbe (R) told the Arizona Republic that “Personal accounts don’t solve the problem. I’ve never argued they solve the problem.”

Kolbe went on to tell them that private accounts are essentially a sweetener to get younger workers to go along with big benefit cuts. As Kolbe put it to a hypothetical young worker: “Look, sorry your benefits are going to be cut in the future and you’re going to be paying more taxes to support this system, but there is something in it for you.”

We were also interested to see that Boyd apparently told the Wall Street Journal that he “opposes big borrowing” to make things right with Social Security. But even Kolbe says their plan costs $600 billion. Actually, $1.1 trillion, but they say they get $500 billion back.

Our man Boyd, always the last to know.

By the way, any progress on getting someone to run against this guy?

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