Bush launches Phase 2 of his Social Security argument

The newsclip yesterday of Bush next to the filing cabinet representing the Social Security trust was pretty clever. Needlenose has a picture of it. The Democrats' response is that Bush's explanation of how the government actually currently uses Social Security money proves their point about the deficit spending problem - but to me, it shows that there is no such thing as a "locked box" in government. To listen to Reid or Pelosi, one would think that Bush was the first to violate the Social Security trust:

In a letter to Bush, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada and House
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California said: "We urge you to commit to
paying back every Social Security dollar that has been used for other purposes."

The implication is silly. Social Security funds were spent by the government from the very beginning and the problem has less to do with Bush or the GOP so much as it has to do with the nature of government. Converting over to private accounts is about the only way you can keep the money out of the hands of government and secure it in the Social Security system - but when you suggest that, then the Dem leadership threatens to take their marbles home (which is assuming they still have their marbles).

Also, everytime Bush proposes a spending cut, he's charged with underfunding this or that. In regards to the budget, our Senate needs to show some balls and come up with something similar to the House. Bush spent a lot of effort to help get a GOP majority in the Senate, it's time they paid him back by showing a little spine.