Sunday, January 16, 2005
SS Cuts Coming?
Courtesy of Rueters
Bush: Social Security Cuts Not Inevitable -- Report
Fri Jan 14, 2005
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Future retirees will not necessarily see smaller Social Security checks if Congress approves the administration plan to allow younger workers to invest part of their payroll taxes, President Bush said in an interview published on Friday.
Asked if people should expect some reduction in future guaranteed benefits as a necessity of overhauling the system, Bush responded, "No," without elaborating.
Bush has said his plan would not cut benefits of current or near-term retirees.
But conservative groups familiar with some of the White House thinking on the proposal said officials were considering changing the way benefits were calculated from wage inflation to price inflation. That eventually would lead to deep cuts in guaranteed Social Security benefits because wages rise faster than prices.
Bush told USA Today his goal was to protect the federal retirement system "without bankrupting our economy by having to raise payroll taxes so high, or dramatically slashing benefits."
"What people should expect is that we will work with people of both parties to do the best we can possibly do to prevent the system from going bankrupt and to making the system viable," Bush said.
The White House is trying to persuade lawmakers and the public that Social Security's finances are in peril and that the president's proposal, which he has yet to spell out in detail, offers the right fix.
Democrats have accused the administration of exaggerating Social Security's problems in order to push through Bush's plan to let workers shift part of their payroll taxes into private accounts, which could then be invested in stocks and bonds.
Bush: Social Security Cuts Not Inevitable -- Report
Fri Jan 14, 2005
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Future retirees will not necessarily see smaller Social Security checks if Congress approves the administration plan to allow younger workers to invest part of their payroll taxes, President Bush said in an interview published on Friday.
Asked if people should expect some reduction in future guaranteed benefits as a necessity of overhauling the system, Bush responded, "No," without elaborating.
Bush has said his plan would not cut benefits of current or near-term retirees.
But conservative groups familiar with some of the White House thinking on the proposal said officials were considering changing the way benefits were calculated from wage inflation to price inflation. That eventually would lead to deep cuts in guaranteed Social Security benefits because wages rise faster than prices.
Bush told USA Today his goal was to protect the federal retirement system "without bankrupting our economy by having to raise payroll taxes so high, or dramatically slashing benefits."
"What people should expect is that we will work with people of both parties to do the best we can possibly do to prevent the system from going bankrupt and to making the system viable," Bush said.
The White House is trying to persuade lawmakers and the public that Social Security's finances are in peril and that the president's proposal, which he has yet to spell out in detail, offers the right fix.
Democrats have accused the administration of exaggerating Social Security's problems in order to push through Bush's plan to let workers shift part of their payroll taxes into private accounts, which could then be invested in stocks and bonds.
Kicknit 1/16/2005