Tell me again, which is the extremist party?

The debate over Social Security reform has just reached an interesting point: President Bush seems ready to give up the idea of personal accounts, at least for now. At a White House luncheon on Tuesday, Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT) announced his plan for Social Security reform (based on progressive indexing), noting that "[Bush] indicated that I should go forward and do that...and I'm grateful to have him do that even though his own preference would be to have personal accounts included."

Democrats reacted predictably, perhaps smelling blood in the water: instead of welcoming this move and affirming their desire to work for meaningful reform, they began to bash the as-yet unintroduced legislation and increase the rhetorical pressure on the administration. For example,

Brad Woodhouse, a spokesman for Americans United to Protect Social Security, a coalition of labor and civil rights groups, said the Republican tactic will backfire and shows their desperation.

"The pro-privatizers are flailing about like dying fish on a dock," he said. "They don't have a clue how to flip themselves back into the water."

Very constructive. But of course this is from an advocacy group. Surely the Democratic leadership has responded in a more sensible way?

In effect, [Sen. Bennett] says he is calling the bluff of Democrats who have told him privately they would support a bill without private accounts. "We will find out," he said, "...whether they really will."

Top Democrats yesterday reiterated their demand that Mr. Bush not only take private accounts off the table before they will consider negotiating, but also that he disavow supporting them in a final House-Senate compromise. "Until the president and the Republican leadership agree that their misguided attempt to privatize Social Security is over, and they will no longer pursue their previously announced bait-and-switch strategy, Democrats will continue to refuse to enter negotiations over Social Security," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said. (Source: Wall Street Journal, 6/22/05. Emphasis mine.)

Nice. So what the Democrats appear to want is not only for the GOP to turn its back on the idea of private accounts, but make some kind of King-Henry-at-Canossa self-flagellation--only after the Republicans have been properly chastised for their heresy will the Dems deign to deal.

Remarkable. So the Democratic party shows little collective interest in encouraging Dick Durbin to apologize for calling US soldiers Nazis, but it gets itself in a Gordian twist about the GOP's reluctance to apologize for an alternative policy choice.