Okay, when last we checked in on the McCain Social Security is an “absolute disgrace” front, we asked you let us know if any journalist got a chance to put the question to McCain. And TPM Reader DB just flagged for me the fact that ABC’s Jake Tapper managed to get an answer.

Jake runs through the play-by-play to this point and then puts the question to McCain spokesman Brian Rogers.

Remember, here’s the quote.

“Americans have got to understand that. Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today. And that’s a disgrace. It’s an absolute disgrace and it’s got to be fixed.”

And here’s the video …

Now, the meaning of the words are very clear. He’s saying that the fact that Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system is an “absolute disgrace.”

And here’s the explanation from McCain’s guy Rogers, as elicited by Tapper …

McCain spox Brian Rogers says that “the disgrace is our failure to fix the long-run imbalance in Social Security — a failure of leadership evidenced by our willingness to kick to problem to the next generation of leaders. He’s also describing the looming and increasing demographic pressures confronting the Social Security system and Washington’s utter failure to address it.”

Now, this goes against the plain meaning of the words. But everybody has words come out the wrong way sometimes, or they say things they don’t really quite mean. IN other words, if it’s just tripping over your words, who cares. But digital video recording is a wonderful thing. And that’s why we can know pretty clearly that Rogers’ explanation is bogus and that this is precisely what McCain meant.

The townhall meeting where McCain said Social Security was “an absolute disgrace” was on Monday in Denver. Just yesterday McCain went on CNN and said more or less exactly the same thing on CNN.

In response to a question from CNN’s John Roberts, McCain said, “Let’s describe it [i.e. Social Security] for what it is. They pay their taxes and right now their taxes are going to pay the retirement of present-day retirees. That’s why it’s broken, that’s why we can fix it.”

He doesn’t use the flamethrower language of “absolute disgrace” but he says very clearly that what’s wrong with Social Security — “why it’s broken” — is the way it was designed to work and has worked for almost 80 years, because it’s a pay-as-you-go system, “pay their taxes and right now their taxes are going to pay the retirement of present-day retirees.” In other words, there’s no question that John McCain thinks that the problem with Social Security is the way it was designed at the very beginning, the way it was always designed to work. Sometimes he just uses more flowery language than others.

Fresh from the airwaves, we hit the video vault to find out just why John McCain believes Social Security is an “absolute disgrace” (including special new debamboozling video to help you not be spun by the McCain camp’s damage control …)

High-res version at Veracifier.com.

Sen. Teddy Kennedy (D-MA) returns to cheers on the senate floor, July 9th, 2008, his first appearance since being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor on May 20th, 2008 …

Lieberman: Why shouldn’t I play the Israel card against Obama?

Reports are bubbling tonight about a new indictment in the sprawling Alaska corruption scandals. But these scandals are so broad-ranging and involve so many different players that there’s no solid word about who’s up next.

Obama and Hillary teaming up today to woo women voters. That and the day’s other political news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.

John McCain’s buddy Phil Gramm, who is a general co-chair of the national campaign and his chief economic adviser, has some choice words on Americans’ economic woes: “You’ve heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession. …. We have sort of become a nation of whiners.”

Late Update: “Phil Gramm’s comments are not representative of John McCain’s views,” the McCain camp explains.

Another contempt citation (for all they’re worth) may be on the way from House Dems. As expected Karl Rove ignored a congressional subpoena to testify this morning to a House Judiciary subcommittee, citing executive privilege.

I can see the McCain campaign is cleverly trying to bury the furor over the candidate’s Social Security ‘disgrace’ comments by having Phil Gramm claim that we’re in the midst of a psychosomatic recession. But I’m not so easily thrown off the scent. After having campaign spokesman Brian Rogers take a stab at explaining his boss’s remarks, McCain took a shot himself, saying that young people “are paying so much that they are paying into a system that they won’t receive benefits from on its present track that it’s on — that’s the point.”

Let’s set aside McCain’s factual claim that current payors into the system won’t receive their benefits back since that is demonstrably false. And let’s go back to what McCain actually said not once but multiple times — that the system, as originally designed and as it’s worked for going on over 70 years is a “disgrace.” Indeed, let’s go further and remove the inflammatory ‘disgrace’ language and focus on McCain’s underlying argument, which is that the program itself, a pay-as-you-go retirement security program isn’t something to be tinkered with to keep it on track but is rather the problem itself. If the ‘disgrace’ comments didn’t make this point clearly enough, McCain made the point just as clearly the following day on CNN when he told John Roberts, “Let’s describe [Social Security] for what it is. They [i.e., working Americans] pay their taxes and right now their taxes are going to pay the retirement of present-day retirees. That’s why it’s broken, that’s why we can fix it.”

Couldn’t be clearer. The ‘problem’ with Social Security, what makes the program an “absolute disgrace” is the design of the program itself, not something that’s gotten out of whack about it.

Now, as Mr. McCain might, let’s have some straight talk. What McCain believes is no different from what President Bush and others did and do believe when they wanted to phase out Social Security and replace it with a system of private investment accounts. He’s just been a bit clumsier about hiding what he’s pushing for. The debate about Social Security is the same as it was in 2005 and in most respects the same as it was in 1965. You have one group who believe in the current system — which is an intergenerational bargain, insuring a baseline level of retirement security as well as insurance against premature, disability and for dependent children. The other side — McCain’s side — thinks this is just wrong, morally and economically. And in its place they want to create a system of individual private investment accounts — similar to a lifetime 401k.

That’s the essence of the debate. And no one should be deceived by McCain’s own efforts to twist and spin his own words retrospectively.

TPM Reader MG responds to Phil Gramm’s comment about Americans whining over what is just a “mental recession”:

Hmmm, so, will we see/hear weeks and weeks of prattling, analyzing, psychobabble, etc. about how badly Gramm/McCain do not understand the good people of this country? How intemperate, unwise, badly stated those remarks about good, honest, hardworking Americans were? Heck, he even implied that we’re delusional about the recession.

I know. I’m delusional to even ask the question. Sigh.