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Bush’s Point Man Nominated for Social Security Board

President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced his intention to nominate Chuck Blahous and Robert Reischauer to serve on the Social Security Trust Fund Board of Trustees.Blahous — the former economic aide to President George W. Bush who helped spearhead Bush’s failed drive to use Social Security taxes to establish individual savings accounts — was recommended for the post by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). The board includes two public trustees appointed by the president — one a Republican and one Democrat.Reischauer, president of the Urban Institute, will take the Democratic post. Reischauer was director of the Congressional Budget Office from 1989-95 and has long been a central figure in entitlement policy debates.Blahous is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. He served on Bush’s White House National Economic Council from 2001-2007 and was policy director for Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) from 1996-2000. While Blahous was on the GOP side of one of the more partisan fights in recent years — the battle over Bush’s Social Security reform effort — he has a history of working across party lines, according to Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition. “He was frequently involved in bipartisan efforts when he worked for Judd Gregg,— Bixby said.

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