NAACP Criticizes Bush Social Security Plan

WASHINGTON -- Black leaders on Monday accused President Bush of "playing the race card" in his pitch to sell his proposed Social Security overhaul, The Associated Press reported

NAACP leaders Julian Bond and Dennis Courtland Hayes said Bush should focus on addressing the underlying health care reasons why blacks have a shorter life expectancy instead of citing it as a reason they should support his idea of private accounts. The black leaders made the remarks at a news conference kicking off a lobbying effort to defeat Bush's Social Security plan. The White House dismissed the criticism.

"Rather than playing the race card to set Americans against Americans, we urge the administration to address the long-term problems the system faces now," said Bond, the NAACP's chairman. "Recognizing the shorter life expectancy of people of color is commendable, but placing them further at risk is no solution."

Government statistics show that the average life span for a newborn black male is 69, compared with 75 for a newborn white male. Critics of Bush's plan say black mortality figures are skewed by higher death rates among infants and a higher exposure to violent crime. They cite statistics showing that by the common retirement age of 65, life expectancy for black males becomes 79.6 years, compared with 81.6 years for while males.

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 4/12/05