Social Security Peace Plan?
Republican George W. Bush says allowing Americans to invest part of their Social Security savings in the stock market is a fiscally sound idea. Vice President Al Gore calls it risky and irresponsible.
Either way, the argument over the future of Social Security is certain to be a political hot potato in this year's presidential election.
And that fact worries three prominent senators.
This week, Bush's former GOP presidential rival John McCain and two key Senate Democrats - Daniel Moynihan of New York and Bob Kerrey of Nebraska - offered a plan they hope will insulate Social Security from the gamesmanship of election-year politics. They proposed creating a bipartisan commission to thrash out a compromise on the divisive issue.
"For too long, Social Security has been used by politicians on both sides of the aisle to polarize, manipulate and scare American voters,'' McCain said.
In recent weeks, Gore and Bush have traded increasingly bitter barbs over the issue. The vice president has accused his GOP rival of devising a secret plan to gut Social Security. Bush, meanwhile, charges Gore with making "outrageous allegations'' against him. He also said Gore's attacks would have a "corrosive effect'' on the vice president's campaign.
The Social Security Trust Fund, though running a surplus today, is projected to run out of money in about 35 years as baby-boomers retire and the number of workers paying into the fund shrinks.
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Bush expressed support for the commission. Speaking from Mission Viejo, Calif., whre he was campaigning Thursday, he said, "I appreciate so very much the tone of their press conference. This shouldn't be a partisan issue.''
He added, "I would hope my opponent would hear this call and we can have a civilized discussion.''
Gore was less enthusiastic. "These commissions are in the eye of the beholder,'' said the vice president after a campaign appearance in Chicago. "I also disagree with them and agree instead with the great majority of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and the House who are not for privatization of Social Security.''
Although Moynihan and Kerrey, both of whom are retiring at the end of their current terms, are Gore supporters, they were critical of the vice president for his attacks on such accounts and his characterization of any proposal that includes them as "privatization.''
"That is a scare word,'' Moynihan said.
Kerrey, who had a private meeting on Social Security with Bush last week, said "I understand that people are nervous about this. I think it's going to take a commission.'' He said he hoped Gore would "keep an open mind'' on the issue.
Bush had planned to deliver a major address on Social Security reform in Pittsburgh on Monday, but that speech has been postponed, the Bush campaign announced, so the governor can attend the funeral of John Cardinal O'Connor in New York.