Trustee… or Political Hack?
I was in the middle of writing a post for today, but this little tidbit is so disgusting that I will repeat it verbatim from Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo.
What's wrong with this picture?
Social Security has seven 'Trustees'.
Five
of the Trustees serve ex-officio, i.e., they're automatically a Trustee
because of their office — like the Treasury Secretary, Labor
Secretary, etc.
One of the two who were appointed directly is Thomas R. Saving. If you look here you'll see that he was a Trustee in 2004 and I've just confirmed with the SSA that he remains a Trustee for 2005.
Yet, according to this morning's
Houston Chronicle, he has just signed on to be an advisor and spokesman
for one of the lead pro-Social Security phase-out astroturf groups, Progress for America.
Are his duties as a Trustee compatible with going to work for Progress for America?
Keep on
the lookout – this guy will probably be on every call-in show and TV show
in America being touted as a “Social Security Trustee”, while being on
the payroll of a political action group.
Blog For Iowa 
This is a blatant conflict of interest. As a trustee of the Social Security Administration Thomas R. Saving should not have any outside employment with political action groups. He may however have a part-time job with McDonalds or Taco Bell. With him as a trustee for SSA and an advisor/spokeman for this pro-privatization group Progress for America (more like Regress for America) will muddy the waters in more ways than none. Will he be speaking the truth as a trustee—like that matters with the Shrub Administration or will he be spreading propoganda. Given this group of pitiful liars, thieves, and political hustlers track record it's hard to beleive anything that comes out of Washington DC. The line that seperates the private sector and public sector no longer exists.
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Yup.
The level of out in the open corruption is simply amazing. Maybe they did learn something from Watergate – if you're going to do something crooked and dishonest, just make sure it's out in the open so it's not a “scandal”.
Fox News, 1973: “So what if some of Nixon's aides broke into a hotel? The Watergate is a well-known liberal hiding ground – Americans deserve the truth!”
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