What do you get when MTV meets the AARP? You might think the answer I’m looking for is “VH-1”. No, what I have in mind is the strange alliance between Rock the Vote (founded by music industry people and heavily promoted by MTV) and the AARP in opposition to Social Security choice. At Rock the Vote’s homepage, you can buy a t-shirt that says “I [heart] Social Security”. (Wow. You can’t get much more rockin’ than that.)

The two organizations have jointly sponsored a "poll" on Social Security reform (together with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a liberal think-tank devoted to African-American concerns). According to the press release, they found that most Americans “oppose private accounts once they learn the likely consequences of putting the accounts into effect.” Translation: we found biased ways to frame our questions such that most of the people being polled chose the answers we preferred.

Most Americans in the 18 to 39 age group, for example, say that they would flat-out oppose the accounts if […] diverting some Social Security payroll taxes means "massive new federal debt in order to pay current benefits" (63 percent say they would oppose).

The notion that diverting taxes to personal accounts means new federal debt is, I have pointed out before, false.

The key lessons of the AARP/RTV poll:

Political Director of Rock the Vote Hans Riemer said, "This poll shows that young people do not support changing Social Security if it means dismantling the basic safety net, cutting benefits dramatically, or massively increasing the national debt. They get all three at once under most private accounts plans. We hope the politicians who say they want to help younger generations are paying attention."

Curiously, the poll didn’t ask young people whether they support preserving Social Security through a massive increase in their taxes. Which is the only option left, once you rule out benefit cuts or dismantling. (Debt merely defers the tax increases.)

The AARP’s opposition to any Social Security reform is to be expected. Even though Bush promises not to touch benefits for anyone now over 55, his proposal to allow people to opt-out funds into personal retirement accounts might loosen future voter attachment to Social Security. Rock the Vote’s opposition to a reform that would benefit young workers is harder to figure, since Rock the Vote purports to represent young people (its main focus is, or used to be, registering young voters). But here’s a hypothesis: the real mission of Rock the Vote is actually not to promote the political interests of young people, but rather the political interests of liberals.

The issue of Rock the Vote’s real mission is not new. Here is an exchange between the above-quoted Hans Riemer and the Capital Gang’s Al Hunt from 2003:

HUNT: You have enlisted in this effort the Dixie Chicks, who aroused controversy, as you know, with their criticisms of President Bush and the war. And critics say that rather than wanting to increase the young voter franchise, what you really want to do is to get more liberal young voters, and you wouldn't be pleased if it ended up turning out conservative voters. Is that a fair rap?

RIEMER: It's not a fair rap. We are definitely a non-partisan organization. We want young people to vote. We think the candidates should compete for young voters.

Note Riemer’s evasion. He was asked: don’t you have a liberal slant? And he answered: we’re non-partisan, meaning, we don’t officially endorse either political party.