With all do respect to George Costanza…..

The President On Social Security Trust: “The money — payroll taxes going into the Social Security are spent. They’re spent on benefits and they’re spent on government programs. There is no trust.”

The Greenspan Commission On Social Security Trust: “The National Commission believes that the investment procedures followed by the trust funds in the past generally have been proper and appropriate. The monies available have generally been invested appropriately in Government obligations at interest rates which are equitable to both the trust funds and the General Fund of the Treasury and have not — as is sometimes alleged — been spent for other purposes outside of the Social Security program.”

[Source: Talking Points Memo]

Marketing ideas is clearly the name of the game. Confusion seems to be the goal. In this era of the partial fact, what is the point at which a statement such as the one above crosses a line?

This is not to specifically single out one side or the other. This is clearly a tactic used by both sides in the political arena. However, in this game of politics and current affairs, one must bow down before the Republican party, for they are clearly the master. They have framed the debate from Reagan/Atwater to Bush/Cheney/Rove. In good form, the opposition is getting better at it as well. Soon we will reach a point where a fact is not a fact anymore - factcheck.org be damned. If challenged a proponent reaches in to the quick bag of tactics and either a) smear the challenger as a partisan hack or b) simply go silent, knowing full well that true partisan hacks on cable or in the blogospere will give it life.

Yep, Sean Hannity and Michael Moore get richer, but the rest of us simple sots plod away, more confused, a little po’d, and most certainly less confident that we are gaining ground in trying to figure our what is what.

[Note: See report posted on Factcheck.org - False Ads: There Oughtta Be A Law! Or — Maybe Not]