2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Bill Clinton was going to privatize Social Security until, uh, Fate stopped him. [View all]BernieforPres2016
(3,017 posts)Thomas Frank, in his book "Listen, Liberal", references a book by historian Steven Gillon titled "The Pact". According to Gillon, Bill Clinton had reached out to Newt Gingrich in 1997 and agreed on a strategy for Social Security privatization. Clinton would start hinting at it in early 1998 (which he did in the January '98 State of Union speech referenced in the Counterpunch article). Various groups would spend the year conducting a "dialogue" to come to the general consensus that had already been decided. Clinton and Gingrich would keep the issue off the table for the November, 1998 mid term elections, then pass it in the December lame duck session.
But after Clinton's January State of the Union speech, the Lewinsky episode went public and that killed the deal.