BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) – Prodding Congress to start revising Social Security, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney pitched their ideas for change to the constituents of key Republican lawmakers in the West on Monday.
Cheney visited the hometown of Rep. Bill Thomas, the GOP lawmaker in charge of writing a House bill, and called Social Security a “financial train wreck” destined for insolvency if it is not overhauled.
Both Cheney and Thomas, who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, reiterated the warning that with millions of Baby Boomers nearing retirement, Social Security will begin paying out more in benefits than it receives in contributions by 2018.
Bush, meanwhile, appeared in Tucson, Ariz., with Sen. John McCain, repeating his mantra that the existing level of Social Security benefits will still be sent to retirees and those soon to retire. “This United States government will keep our promise to people retired or near retirement,” Bush said.
McCain, R-Ariz., accused Democrats of not working toward a bipartisan solution. “We must do this together,” he said, his voice growing louder with each word. “We know how much money is coming in. We know how much money is going out. Does anybody believe we should wait – we should wait until there’s no money that we have to cut off people’s Social Security checks?”
Democrats are spending the two-week Easter break in their districts, trying to rally grassroots opposition to Bush’s proposed changes. They are holding town hall meetings, press conferences and working with opposition groups to organize counter-events at stops along Bush’s Social Security road tour.
“We’re not going to let him define the debate,” said Brendan Daly, a spokesman for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
“We’re going to challenge him at every step,” he said, adding that Democrats want the public to understand that future benefits will have to be cut under Bush’s plan and that his proposed borrowing to fix Social Security’s solvency problems will expand the federal deficit, which already is at record levels.
A few hundred protesters greeted Bush at the convention center in Tucson. Many held signs with anti-war messages. But some – such as “Social Security: Not Securities” and “Bush: Don’t Gamble with Our Future” – focused on the issue of the day.
Bush last week urged lawmakers to meet with people in their districts and states during a two-week Easter recess and return to Washington ready to start exchanging ideas. The White House considers Thomas’ support essential for getting Bush’s plan through Congress.
While presenting a mostly unified front with Cheney on Monday, Thomas reiterated his objection to raising the $90,000 cap on payroll deductions so that wealthier people would pay more into the system than they currently do. The White House has not ruled out considering changes to the cap.
“If you use the payroll tax, you’re killing the job stimulation you need to fund the program,” Thomas said. “There has to be a better way that doesn’t create a depressed job market.”
In the past, Thomas has suggested that a value-added tax – essentially a sales tax on goods and services – be used to finance Social Security. Sales taxes tend to eat up a much larger percentage of poor people’s incomes, and so hit them harder than they do the well-off.
In an interview after his appearance, Thomas declined to discuss the specifics of what an eventual bill would look like, only that he supported the White House push for private investment accounts.
As a sign of how politically charged the issue has become, Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., a leading opponent of Bush’s plan, told reporters Monday that Cheney had “a virtual career of disdain for Social Security” and compared his appearances to sending Saddam Hussein to campaign for democracy in Iraq.
That provoked an angry retort from Republican chairman Ken Mehlman.
“Comparing the vice president to a tyrannical despot who murdered thousands of his own people is rhetoric you would expect to hear from (documentary movie maker) Michael Moore but not a United States senator,” Mehlman said.
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