The Bulletin's Frontrunner

February 21, 2002

SECTION: Washington News

Against White House Wishes, House GOP Plans Passage Of Social Security Plan.

The Washington Times (2/21, A1, Lambro) reports, "House Republican leaders plan to pass a bill next month to guarantee full Social Security retirement benefits to all workers, a move designed to block Democrats from playing on voters' fears about the program's long-term viability." The bill "would require the government to issue certificates promising that Social Security benefits will not be cut to anyone who reaches retirement age. Republican leaders also plan to pass a bill to improve benefits for women who have left their jobs to raise children. . The GOP's strategy has triggered behind-the-scenes controversy within their party." The White House "does not support the idea because President Bush's advisers fear it would undermine his proposal to establish private Social Security retirement accounts.

Conservative reformers say the idea could interfere with needed reforms and spark future lawsuits. And a congressional study said yesterday that such a guarantee is worthless." Polls Indicate Persistent Support For Social Security Privatization.

Karlyn Bowman writes in Roll Call (2/21), "Neither the stock market's ups and downs nor Enron's collapse appears to have changed attitudes about privatization. Four pollsters recently updated their questions.

Each organization's question has a slightly different emphasis, which affects the level of support for privatization. Gallup, CNN and USA Today's question, asked five times since June 2000, usually finds slightly more than 60 percent 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.' This January, 63 percent were in favor and 33 percent were opposed to this idea. In June 2000 those numbers were 65 percent and 30 percent, respectively. Forty-eight percent in January's Fox News-Opinion Dynamics poll said people should 'have the option to invest a small part of their Social Security contributions in government-approved stock market funds,' but 42 percent supported the status quo, i.e., having Social Security "continue working as it currently does.' The January CBS News-New York Times survey revealed that 54 percent believed it is a good idea to allow 'individuals to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes on their own'; 39 percent disagreed. In May 2000 the results were 51 percent and 45 percent, respectively."