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March 31, 2005
As President Bush continues to stack his Social Security privatization meetings with phase-out loyalists while proclaiming the broad public demands private accounts, prominent members of his own party are coming to grips with a different reality: Americans do not want privatization and they do not trust the president's plans to replace Social Security with private accounts.
- President Bush can not convince his own people that privatization is a good idea. Just before appearing with the president at another disastrous privatization day in Iowa, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), head of the Senate Finance Committee, stated, ""I don't think [Bush] has made much progress on solving the solvency issue or what to do about personal accounts. It concerns me because as time goes on, I was hoping the president would be able to make my job easier. We are not hearing from the grass roots that, by golly, you guys in Congress have to work on this." Rep. Jim Leach (R-IA), who also appeared with Bush, stated, "Today, the public has not found his personal account approach compelling."
- If the president's own supporters are backing off of private accounts, why should Americans trust the idea? The president likes to thump his chest about tackling a big issue, yet has failed to convince Americans that replacing Social Security with private accounts is a good idea. Americans recognize that a plan grounded in huge debt, more risk, and benefit cuts is not a sound way to protect their retirement.
- A system of private accounts is not a plan to save Social Security; it's a plan to replace Social Security. The president needs to get out of his bubble and realize that Americans are on to him. Shifting money out of the Social Security trust fund to pay for private accounts – and borrowing trillions of dollars in the process – does nothing to ensure solvency and will accelerate the program's financial strains. Pretending to do something about the problem while proposing ideas that will only make matters worse is not the way forward.
Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund. |
Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund. |
