Bush Planning a “Reagan” on Social Security

I’m referring here to means, not ends. That is, the Boston Globe is reporting this morning that President Bush, facing a chilly reception” on Capitol Hill on his plan to reform Social Security, has said he will take his plan directly to the American people. Notwithstanding some ideas and programs of his with which I have serious problems (e.g. education), you’ve just got to love this guy. Oh how far we’ve come from the days when they said his chain was being pulled by others, that he wasn’t his own man, that he lacked gravitas, that he was all politician, no substance. He has set his mind to doing something — something that is right and immensely unpopular — and he is going to stick with it despite the shameless obstruction he is encountering. Sadly, politics sometimes rewards those with short-term vision rather than longterm stewardship, but this president is not one who governs by the polls. And someday, for that he will be appreciated. Heck, he might even be lauded in the history books if conservatives committed to historical truth can reassert themselves in academia sufficiently to impact the text books.