McCain Calls Social Security A "Disgrace"

Nice catch by Matt Yglesias:

John McCain: Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today. And that's a disgrace.

Sounds like a great way to win the senior vote.

I'm sure we'll be seeing ads about this in the fall, particularly if there is video. And Obama should quickly move to incorporate McCain's "disgrace" comment into his attacks on the stump, right alongside "100 years".

And guess what, here's the video:



McCain's defense on this, of course, would be that he was referring to Social Security's future viability as a disgrace, not the actual manner by which the program works. The problem with this "context" excuse is that McCain was discussing how the program is funded when he said it was an "absolute disgrace".

Also, McCain wants to privatize Social Security and dismantle it, so he probably does think the program is some sort of socialist fiasco. In other words, he does think the current Social Security system is a disgrace, and he wants to end it. I'm sure seniors would love to hear that.