Rendell takes a position

On Social Security, that is. He had previously appeared conciliatory in his response to Bush's proposed "reform," but now comes out clearly in support of the safety net and against private accounts.

And you know, this argument that people know best how to handle their own money – if that was the case, why would we have ever needed Social Security in the first place? Right? If people were doing such a good job handling their money so they had no nest eggs for retirement, why would we ever have needed Social Security in the first place? Well, there you have it.

I suppose that the upwelling of public opposition made such a stance a bit easier, but maybe he felt this way all along. His support or opposition may not matter officially when it comes time for national decisions, but I'm sure it carries some weight with legislators from the region.