Tim Griffin, Republican candidate for 2nd District, has a record to run from when it comes to Social Security. Back during his proud service to President Bush, he wanted the president tried to privatize it and Griffin has talked proudly of working for the president’s agenda. Good thing that didn’t happen, given the stock market implosion that followed.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is on Griffin’s case on this. Fair game. Griffin’s past gives you some idea of where he might fall on the Ryan plan to cut and privatize Social Security and Medicare. I don’t guess he’ll be so supportive of cutting the pet projects of the lobbyists who gathered at the Capitol Hill Club last night for this $1,000 fund-raiser, however.
UPDATE: A spokesman for Tim Griffin asserts that Griffin did not work directly on the Social Security project at the White House, despite references in the newspaper that suggested that would be part of his work. Does that mean he objected to privatization then and told the president so? He dodges that question. “It was not his role to critique all the policies of the Bush administration,” says K. Ryan James.
UPDATE II: But, now, in a followup question, James says flatly that Griffin was opposed to Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security. I’ve asked if there’s anything on the record to reflect that and don’t have a response yet, but good for him if that’s true. Too bad he didn’t have any influence on the president he served so loyally. I’ve also asked again for where Griffin stands on the current plan by House Republican leader Ryan plan to cut Social Security and Medicare and privatize them. The Democratic Campaign Committee isn’t buying. Said spokesman Jesse Ferguson: