What happens if Republicans retain control of the Senate? Here’s a sample of what’s in store (emphasis added):
Across the aisle, [Sen. Bob] Bennett [R-UT] is confident Republicans will hang on to control of the Senate, just barely, and could see the body being split evenly down the middle, with Vice President Dick Cheney tipping the balance ever-so-slightly to the Republicans.
If he’s right, Bennett will have the ear of the presumptive Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell.
There is no one in the Senate whom Bennett is closer to than the Kentucky Republican. For nearly two years, the two senators have had a deal in place where Bennett would become counsel to the majority leader, a hand-picked adviser, putting him in the inner circle of Senate leadership and in the room for every deal cut and horse trade that gets done.
And McConnell has already given Bennett the green light to use his chairmanship of the Joint Economic Committee to take another swing at one of Bennett’s pet projects: overhauling Social Security.
Once a cornerstone of President Bush’s agenda, it was quickly torn to shreds by Democrats and seniors groups.
Bennett proposed raising the retirement age and indexing payments based on need. He also pitched a separate plan to create private retirement accounts. Neither plan went far, but they are still tucked away in his desk drawer, and he is prepared to dust them off.
Just another reminder of what’s at stake Tuesday.
(Thanks to TPM Reader JL for the tip.)
