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Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: "Let's not miss the big news in today's article in the Times about Dick Cheney. The vice president supports putting over 95% of the employee-side contribution to Social Security into private accounts.

Unfortunately, the authors construct the sentence in a somewhat murky fashion. But the key passage is this one: 'Mr. Cheney is said by associates to favor creating investment accounts into which workers could deposit 4 percent to 6 percent of their earnings that are subject to the Social Security payroll tax.'

In orther words, Cheney supports putting 4 to 6 percentage points of each individual's 6.2% contribution into a private investment account and taking it out of the Social Security system.

(Just for maximum clarity, that means about 97% of the employee's payroll tax contribution, which is 6.2% of their salary up to $90,000. And it's about 48% of the total Social Security money going into the program for the given individual since the employer also kicks in another 6.2%.)"

Transcript of Bush Interview (washingtonpost.com)
"The Post: Why do you think [Osama] bin Laden has not been caught?

THE PRESIDENT: Because he's hiding."

The Vote on Mr. Gonzales (washingtonpost.com): "At a time when nominees for the Cabinet can be disqualified because of their failure to pay taxes on a nanny's salary, this reluctance to hold Mr. Gonzales accountable is shameful."