Social Security and Iraq: the same sales strategy

Paul Krugman's column in the New York Times lays out the similarities between the successful Bush sales stragey for Iraq and the one now being used for Social Security. In both cases the Bush camp pointed to a dire problem requiring immediate action.

"Speeches about Iraq invariably included references to 9/11, leading much of the public to believe that invading Iraq somehow meant taking the war to the terrorists. When pressed, war supporters would admit they lacked evidence of any significant links between Iraq and Al Qaeda, let alone any Iraqi role in 9/11 - yet in their next sentence it would be 9/11 and Saddam, together again.

Similarly, calls for privatization invariably begin with ominous warnings about Social Security's financial future. When pressed, administration officials admit that private accounts would do nothing to improve that financial future. Yet in the next sentence, they once again link privatization to the problem posed by an aging population."