Sins of Commission.(Brief Article)

In stacking the nominally bipartisan social security commission with members all committed to some form of privatization, this mandateless president seeks to advance one of his top campaign promises. But he also debases the concept of a presidential commission as it has been used historically. In an increasingly polarized environment, the man who called himself "a uniter" misuses one of the few instruments for mobilizing consensus.

The typical commission assembles wide representation from the leadership of affected interests to study particularly divisive problems or ...