A small item in the Washington Post last week reports that the Senate budget committee is apparently planning to set up a panel to operate in secret to devise a plan for restructuring Social Security. According to the short piece, the intention is to produce a "bipartisan" plan which will then be put up for a vote by congress. If the media is doing its job, it will out these secret Social Security planners. This is not a matter of national security. We are supposed to have a democracy. Any plans for restructuring the country's most important social program should be aired fully in public. Of course, public discussion poses a real problem for those who want to cut benefits, since most people do not support that move. But, them's the breaks. Reponsible media report on issues that are of concern to the public, they do not assist conspiracies against the public.
--Dean Baker
