Bush's Social Security Plan Cuts Benefits

WASHINGTON -- In a prime-time news conference Thursday, President Bush refused to back off his desire to carve private retirement accounts out of Social Security. Democrats say those personal accounts are a deal-breaker that would keep most of them from supporting Bush's revisions, The Associated Press reported.

But for the first time he proposed changes under which Social Security checks for low-income workers retiring in the future would grow faster than those for people who are better off.

"By providing more generous benefits for low-income retirees, we'll make this commitment: If you work hard and pay into Social Security your entire life, you will not retire in poverty," Bush said.

The White House said Bush's proposal could be accomplished with a "sliding-scale benefit formula." That would mean lower Social Security payments for future middle- and upper-income retirees than they are currently guaranteed -- a fact Bush himself did not mention in his 60-minute session with reporters.

Bush would "gut benefits for middle-class families," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said in a joint statement. "All the president did was confirm that he will pay for his risky privatization scheme by cutting the benefits of middle-class seniors."

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 4/29/05