'Hey I know -- let's force Social Security Administration employees to tell our lies for us!'

from Jan. 16 '05.... The White House applies its endlessly innovative PR toolkit to the Social Security In Crisis! effort.

"Hi there -- do you need a hand getting that lumber out to your car? No? Could I maybe just walk with you for a little bit? I'm an employee of the Social Security Administration, and I'd like to talk to you about how the program is teetering dangerously on the brink of total insolvency. Here's a drawing I did of a small child whose dad lost his benefits in the year 2043. You can have it. Hey wait. Slow down. Please don't run."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/16/politics/16benefit.html

The [Social Security Administration's] strategic communications plan says the following message is to be disseminated to "all audiences" through speeches, seminars, public events, radio, television and newspapers: "Social Security's long-term financing problems are serious and need to be addressed soon," or else the program may not "be there for future generations."

The plan says that Social Security managers should "discuss solvency issues at staff meetings," "insert solvency messages in all Social Security publications" and spread the word at nontraditional sites like farmers' markets and "big box retail stores."