The battle for Social Security reform is in full swing. Quotes like, “We will defeat private accounts soon,” from House Minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, prove that the gloves are off on this issue. In the end though, private accounts will win and the do-nothing plan of liberals will lose.
President Bush has faced some setbacks as he continues his “60 stops in 60 days” campaign to promote his reform plan. A recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll reports that only 35 percent of voters approve of the President’s handling of Social Security. This is down in recent months and is due to constant confusion on the subject. President Bush has a firm grasp of the issues at stake; now he just needs to clarify his solution for the problem of Social Security.
Bush’s first job is to convince the American public that Social Security is a problem. Currently there are three workers for every retiree. Soon there will be only two workers per retiree. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the system in the 1930s there were more than 20 times the number of workers per retiree that there will be in the future.
Social Security cannot survive with these ratios. As the President said in a recent news conference, “I came to Washington to solve problems.” Seems simplistic, but all too many politicians on either side of the aisle are much more worried about reelection than solving problems. Any politician that argues for doing nothing about Social Security is not representing the best interests of his or her constituents.
The President’s next task is to dispel the common misconception that private accounts are his solution to the revenue problem of Social Security. In fact, private accounts are not even part of the solution to the problem; rather they are an optional benefit for workers. Bush’s problem is that he sells private accounts as a good thing, which they are, but does not distinguish them from what he plans to do to cure Social Security.
Bush’s final task is to get something down on paper. He has been very open to many ideas—from both sides of the political spectrum – to fix Social Security. None of these potential solutions are completely clear-cut. One of the most common options presented for Social Security solvency is benefit cuts. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told a special Senate committee that, “benefit cuts will almost surely be part of the resolution and it is incumbent on government to convey to future retirees that the real resources currently promised to be available on retirement will not be fully forthcoming.”
President Bush also needs to decide if, as Howard Dean suggested, the retirement age should be raised and if so, by how many years. Alternatively, Bush could choose to reform how Social Security is indexed. These are difficult choices, but no one says solving problems is easy.
Once the President and his team review the pros and cons of the numerous options for Social Security reform, they must put together a plan that is easy for citizens of all ages and political interests to interpret. Right now, he is selling a bundle of ideas. It will be much easier for him to sell his plan when it is more comprehensive. In No Limit Texas Hold’em terms, Bush has the winning hand, now he just needs to play it.
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