Ed Asner helps Gore with Social Security pitch
By LAURA MECKLER, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (October 23, 2000 8:52 p.m. EDT nandotimes.com) - Democrats have begun placing tens of
thousands of recorded phone calls featuring actor Ed Asner assailing George W. Bush's Social Security plan.
The calls, begun over the weekend in several battleground states, echo the message being delivered this week in
more than $10 million worth of television advertising.
Like the TV ads, the phone calls suggest the Republican Bush cannot maintain benefits for current retirees and allow
younger workers to divert some of their tax money into private accounts.
"George W. Bush has a proposal that would undermine Social Security, even threatening current benefits," Asner, 70,
a liberal activist, says in the message. "Intelligent changes are needed to Social Security, but not at the cost of current
retirees. That's a violation of a sacred trust."
It's clearly an effort to scare senior citizens and others who care about the program, although Bush has promised he
will not cut benefits for current retirees or those near retirement.
Bush says he can maintain benefits while creating personal accounts by tapping into the Social Security surplus,
which is about $2.4 trillion. That money, he says, can cover the $1 trillion younger workers would have paid into the
current system if it wasn't diverted into personal accounts.
But that plan would further aggravate Social Security's financial problems. The trust fund is already set to go broke in
2037, and Bush's plan would advance the date of insolvency. Under current law, the system will start paying out more
than it takes in 2015, and under Bush's plan that date will also move up.
Bush has several options for dealing with the matter, though he hasn't said which one he will take. He could borrow
money, raise taxes, cut benefits or tap into general revenue. In their ads and in phone calls, Democrats suggest
Bush's only option is to cut benefits, and in that sense, they are misleading.
But they are working hard to drive the point into voters' minds.
Both the Democratic National Committee and Democrat Al Gore's presidential campaign are making the pitch in TV
ads airing in 19 states this week. The phone calls are being made in many of those states, including Michigan and
Florida, said DNC spokeswoman Jenny Backus.
"You can count on hearing our Social Security message in many of the states where you're hearing our advertising,"
she said.
Asner, most famous for playing Lou Grant on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," recorded the message over the weekend.
Nearly 100,000 calls will be made, said one Democratic official. Democrats also plan direct mail on the same point.
Bush tried to turn the Social Security issue against Gore on Monday, saying the vice president has no real plan for the
program's financial future and would have to drain $40 trillion from general revenues to pay benefits to the baby
boomers.
But while Gore has no long-term plan, Bush doesn't either, other than promising to appoint a commission. And Bush's
plan for personal accounts, while helpful for younger workers, would make the baby boomer financial crunch even
more problematic. |
