UPDATE 1-Republicans attack Democrats, AARP on pensions
reuters.com
Wed Mar 2, 2005 06:50 PM ET
(Adds AARP response, new material throughout)
By Donna Smith and Caren Bohan
WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - Frustrated that President George W. Bush's plan to restructure Social Security is failing to win widespread support, top Republicans on Wednesday attacked Democratic opponents and the country's largest retiree organization.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, criticized Democrats for refusing to negotiate with Republicans.
He also accused the AARP, a powerful group which claims more than 35 million members over age 50, of being "hypocritical" for criticizing private Social Security accounts as too risky while selling mutual funds to its members.
"It is incredibly irresponsible to try to convince the American people that there is no problem. It is incredibly irresponsible for the AARP to be against a solution that hasn't even been written yet," DeLay said after a closed-door meeting with Republican members of the House of Representatives.
AARP Director of Federal Affairs David Certner said they were in favor of encouraging retirement savings in addition to Social Security. He said the retirement plan has financial problems that need to be solved "but taking money out of Social Security not only doesn't solve that problem, it makes the problem worse."
House Speaker Dennis Hastert said the current pay-as-you-go retirement system was like a "pyramid game" with early participants getting out more than they put in and that it needed change now. He accused Democrats of sticking their head in the sand "like an ostrich" and saying there was no problem.
An opinion poll released on Wednesday by Pew Research showed public support for private accounts waning. The portion of Americans favoring such accounts fell to 46 percent in the latest poll from 54 percent in December and 58 percent in September.
BREATHING NEW LIFE INTO THE PROPOSAL
Republicans say they need to talk some more about Social Security problems, and House and Senate leaders have suggested it may be months before Congress takes action.
Republicans say it is too early to say Bush is facing defeat on a top domestic priority.
"The president can keep it alive," said Sen. Pete Domenici, a New Mexico Republican.
Senior Bush administration officials plan a 60-day, 60-city campaign to try to build support for the plan, Treasury Secretary John Snow said. Bush has traveled to a number of states touting private accounts and plans to visit Indiana and New Jersey on Friday.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan criticized "naysayers" who are predicting the failure of Bush's plan.
Democrats, feeling no pressure from the public, say they will not enter into negotiations with Republicans until private accounts are taken off the table. They argue that Bush is trying to create a crisis when Social Security will be able to pay full retirement benefits for decades.
"We're not going to be sucked into the president's plan to have us have meetings with him on something that is not an emergency," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada told reporters.
Reid also criticized Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan who reiterated his support for individual accounts on Wednesday and told a House panel that lawmakers should act sooner rather than later.
"What I wish Greenspan would tell the Republicans is what he told us when (Bill) Clinton was president, you've got to do something about the deficit. We did," Reid said.
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