While mainstream media outlets continue giving Congressman Ben Chandler (D-KY) a pass on his Social Security misstatements, pressure from bloggers has caused him to change part of his story.
"The President's plan would reduce the benefits of future retirees by 30%," Chandler stated flatly in an email yesterday to Bluegrass blogger The Conservative Edge (www.conservativeedge.blogspot.com). This represents a large change from Chandler's prior published statements that Bush planned to cut the Social Security checks to seniors and the disabled by "nearly 50%."
Chandler's information (both the old and new versions) has conflicted with all available descriptions of the personal account proposal, including that of the website that his staff insists was the original source for his inaccurate assertions.
The Louisville Courier Journal did print one article about anonymous phone calls with some of the inaccurate claims, but Chandler has, so far, avoided any of the scrutiny that might be expected to dog any public official, especially a Congressman making false charges against the President of the United States. Stay tuned for further developments.
