Ford fixin’ for a showdown with the folks at Cato?
The last we heard of Fainthearted Faction member Rep. Harold Ford of Tennessee, he was telling us that whatever the Cato Institute might think or be telling others, he didn’t support their Social Security phase-out plan. “I do not support changing the Social Security system as has been proposed by President Bush,” he said in a statement released on December 30th, “nor do I support Social Security proposals advanced by the CATO Institute. In fact, both of these proposals have the potential to harm current beneficiaries by paying for the transition costs by issuing debt.”
Now, we notice, though, that Rep. Ford is listed as giving the luncheon address on day two of the Cato Institute’s “Social Security: The Opportunity for Real Reform” conference on February 8th and 9th.
We think it’s great that Ford is taking this opportunity to give them a piece of his mind.
Late Update: We note that the program says ‘invited’ by his name. So has Ford even accepted the invite?
Even Later Update: Late this afternoon Rep. Ford’s office informed TPM that the congressman is actually not delivering this speech, and that he declined Cato’s invitation last week. See this subsequent post for the details.
