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Bush pushes Social Security plan

The president brings his mom along to help sell Orlando seniors on letting workers privately invest withheld pay.

By TIM GRANT
Published March 19, 2005

ORLANDO - As his plan to change Social Security is being scrutinized, President Bush on Friday made a second swing through Florida to rally more support.

The president took the stage at Lake Nona YMCA Family Center with his mother, Barbara, who helped him reassure people born before 1950 that their Social Security benefits will not change.

Under his proposal, the president says, the safety net that exists for retired seniors will continue to pay younger generations through private investment accounts when they get ready to retire.

The new system also would give people who are now under age 55 an asset they can leave to heirs, he said.

"This would give most Americans their first chance to own something and be able to pass something on," Bush said. That privilege "shouldn't just be for the wealthy."

Polls, however, show growing opposition to his idea to overhaul the system.

Some opponents say the plan is too risky because people could lose money in a volatile stock market.

Democrats have argued that less dramatic changes, such as increasing payroll tax payments by upper-income workers or changing how benefits are calculated, would be enough to fix any future problems, and that Bush's proposals would add trillions of dollars to the national debt while privatizing a program that has kept millions of Americans out of poverty since it began in 1940.

This was Bush's second visit to Florida in just over a month. In all, Bush has stopped in 14 states promoting the plan since introducing his idea for Social Security in his State of the Union address.

Bush said his proposal would help workers reap a greater return on their money if they're allowed to invest it in a conservative mix of stocks and bonds. "We need to make sure to have careful guidelines on what you can invest in," Bush said. "You can't take it to the lottery or the tracks."

The grave problem facing the Social Security system, Bush says, is that there is more money coming out than going in.

"What we need to do is come up with a permanent solution, which is what I'm traveling the country talking about," Bush said, later adding that "personal government accounts would replace an empty government promise with real assets."

Tim Grant can be reached at 813 269-5311 or at grant@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 19, 2005, 01:00:09]