Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) recently stated on the Fox News Channel?s ?Your World with Neil Cavuto? that the accounts in the president?s plan could not be passed on to one?s heirs. Wrong again. It?s the current Social Security system that does not allow inheritability. The president has repeatedly highlighted inheritability as a big advantage of optional personal accounts, and that feature is included in all three versions of legislation already introduced in Congress.

The ignorance strategy hit another high when Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) recently issued a brochure critical of the president?s proposal. The brochure went beyond the usual distortions to outright lies. I know it is not politically correct to say a member of Congress lied, but the truth police seem to be missing in action.

Maloney printed in her brochure that guaranteed benefits would be cut under the president?s plan. Not true. She said the president?s proposal was not optional. Not true. She also said the optional personal accounts were not transferable to your heirs if you die before the funds are exhausted. Not true again. These statements are not just little white political lies. They are big fat political whoppers!

Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), who I deeply respect for his contributions to the civil rights movement, has said that the Democrats are winning the Social Security debate. Unfortunately, the Democrats are not debating solutions. They are digging in their heels to maintain the status quo by keeping a lot of people confused and ignorant of the facts.

Integrity used to be a virtue shared by most members of Congress. Integrity is now blatantly ignored for purely partisan political purposes. Most people elected to Congress want to solve problems. But too many members are now content to let the people suffer for the sake of political obstructionism and the next election.

As former Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota found out in the last election, voters are not as dumb as Democrats think. It just takes some people longer to recover from years of liberal abuse. Some will never recover, but a vocal and persistent public armed with the right information can force Congress to enact aggressive policy solutions.

As Thomas Jefferson said, ?When people have the right information they will make the right decisions.? Democrats will soon learn that promoting ignorance is a losing strategy.