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Not that this is anything new. The Left discovers this "secret plan" every election year. These accusations are, of course, ridiculous. Republicans are not scheming to steal every old-timer's nest egg, nor are their plans to reform Social Security a "secret." In fact, the very idea that Republican plans to reform Social Security are somehow secret is disingenuous at best. A quick search of legislation introduced this Congress reveals that several prominent Republicans have introduced comprehensive plans to reform Social Security. These various legislative proposals are widely available to all Americans who care to examine them. Furthermore, President George W. Bush's Commission to Strengthen Social Security (a commission headed by liberal sage and Democratic ex-Senator Pat Moynihan) has proposed three specific reform plans that have been publicly available since last year. Yet some Democrats and their supporters continue to rant about the Republicans' secret plan. There is a secret in Washington all right, but it has nothing to do with Republicans' desire to starve old folks. The real secret in Washington is that the Democratic leadership has no real plan to deal with the impending demise of Social Security. The majority of Democrats who have offered counter-proposals simply delay insolvency for a few years through higher taxes (although a few brave Democrats such as Representative Charlie Stenholm (D., Tex.) are supporting genuine reform measures). Yet, most Democrats realize that Social Security as it currently exists is destined to fail in the near future. They also know most Americans realize this and therefore support Social Security reform. In a recent Roll Call article, American Enterprise Institute's polling expert Karlyn Bowman was quoted as noting that, ". . . Gallup, CNN and USA Today's question, asked five times since June 2000, usually finds slightly more than 60% of respondents favoring a proposal 'that would allow people to put a portion of their Social Security payroll taxes into personal retirement accounts that would be invested in private stocks and bonds.'" They also know that their solution of continually raising taxes is very unpopular. This is evident in a recent poll conducted by Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates for the senior's group 60 Plus that discovered on the issue of Social Security, American's trust President Bush — who has championed personal accounts — over Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle by a margin of 51% to 34%. So, unable — or unwilling — to come up with a constructive plan of their own, Democrats have decided to once again demagogue the issue by accusing Republicans of secretly planning to swipe seniors' Social Security benefits. But a few brave public servants are calling them on it. everal members of the President's Commission were so disturbed over comments made by the ranking Democrat on the House Social Security Subcommittee, Rep. Robert Matsui (D., Calif.), that they penned a letter to him to "clarify" the Commission's report. At one point in the letter, they tersely reminded the California Democrat that, ". . . critics without constructive alternatives do not contribute to the policy debate." The fact is, none of the proposed Republican Social Security reform plans, nor the three plans proposed by the President's blue ribbon commission, lower — or alter in any way — current retirees' existing benefits. While Daschle and his allies may not have the facts on their side, or a serious counter proposal, they apparently believe that the American public is dumb enough to accept their partisan lies. In their latest demonstration of partisan audacity, members of the House Democratic leadership introduced the three reform plans suggested by the President's Social Security Commission — for the sole purpose of bringing the bills to the floor of the House in order to publicly demagogue them in front of a national audience. They have no intention of ever supporting Social Security reform. In fact, Gephardt recently admitted that Democrats are ". . . dedicated to stopping the Republicans from passing their privatization scheme. . ." Having failed to dampen the President's public support through their attacks on last year's tax cuts or the prosecution of the war, Democrats have decided to fall back on the "third rail" of politics. However, it is beginning to seem more and more likely that if congressional Republicans and the White House calmly and reasonably make their case, the Democrats might be the ones in for a shock. — Mr. Schlecht is director of congressional relations for the National Taxpayers Union, a non-profit, non-partisan organization founded in 1969 to work for lower taxes, less wasteful spending, and accountable government at all levels.
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on't
look now, but the Democratic leadership has uncovered another "vast
right-wing conspiracy." According to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle
and House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, Republicans are once again collaborating
to develop a "secret plan" to steal senior citizens' retirement
savings, throw them out into the streets, and publicly flog them. (Okay,
liberals haven't yet accused conservatives of the flogging part, but wait
until election day grows closer.)
