Dems' freakout over Social Security reform really ratcheting up

“Divorce this conversation about deficit reduction from Social Security and making it a better program!” Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) told a roomful of Social Security advocates on Capitol Hill on Thursday…

The House Democrats’ message comes as White House Budget Director Jack Lew said the administration believes the conversation about Social Security should be “parallel” to that on the deficit.

Lew offered that clarification to reporters about a section on Social Security in the president’s fiscal 2012 budget. The vaguely worded section laid out six principles for talking about Social Security but did not make clear if Obama wanted to have that discussion as part of a debt deal with Congress this year.