[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 140 (Monday, October 30, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S11350]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEME

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, what I would like to do for a few minutes is 
talk about the Governor of Texas and his plan regarding Social 
Security. I will not go into a lot of detail other than to say that the 
actuarials that are cited show that his plan is impossible because he 
is promising the same trillion dollars to two different groups, and in 
effect, the plan, just in a few short years, would bankrupt the country 
and we would have staggering deficits again.
  So that those within the sound of my voice do not think that these 
statements that I am making are coming from the Democratic Senatorial 
Campaign Committee or the Democratic National Committee, let me read a 
number of quotes.
  First of all, from Ron Gebhardtsbauer, who is Senior Pension Fellow 
at the American Academy of Actuaries, who said:

       ``I don't see any way they pay off the public debt.'' And 
     given Bush's large package of tax cuts, ``in 2015 the budget 
     will go negative. There won't be a surplus anymore.''

  Paul Krugman, economist and columnist for the New York Times stated 
on October 29:

       George W. Bush's proposal, admittedly, does not count on 
     the stupidity of markets. Instead, he trusts the people: 
     voters are not supposed to notice that the same pool of money 
     is promised to two different groups of people.

  Secretary of Treasury Lawrence Summers, who, by the way, is not only 
Secretary of Treasury and a brilliant academician but is also a 
fiduciary with the Social Security trust fund and has an obligation in 
that regard also, here is what he says:

       Now, there is of course, a Social Security surplus of 
     approximately $2 trillion over the next 10 years. That 
     surplus is currently earmarked to pay the guaranteed benefits 
     for the baby boom generation when it retires. If that surplus 
     is diverted to new accounts, then the resources will not be 
     there to pay the guaranteed benefits when the baby boom 
     generation retires.

  Robert Ball, former Commissioner of the Social Security 
Administration, said on October 27, just a few days ago:

       I've looked over Governor Bush's plan. He takes one 
     trillion dollars out of Social Security for savings accounts. 
     But Social Security is counting on that money to pay 
     benefits. His plan simply doesn't add up and would undermine 
     Social Security.

  Henry J. Aaron and Alan Blinder, Century Foundation Study of Governor 
Bush's Social Security proposal, Washington Post, August 24:

       In a recent report, we showed that Social Security 
     retirement benefits would have to be cut as much as 54 
     percent to restore balance under a Bush-style privatization 
     plan.

  In an editorial in the New York Times yesterday:

       The governor's scheme would siphon money out of Social 
     Security at the very moment when both seniors and younger 
     taxpayers want to see long-term fixes to ensure its solvency.

  Mr. President, the fact is that Governor Bush's plan ruins Social 
Security and ruins our economy. That is not a very good duo, as far as 
I am concerned, when you take into consideration that Social Security 
is the most successful social program in the history of the world.
  We need to make sure that we do what we can to strengthen the 
program. Governor Bush's program weakens the program.

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