Whitehouse Details Plan to Shore Up Social Security

September 5, 2006

Whitehouse Details Plan to Shore Up Social Security
Senate Candidate Calls for Real Solutions to Protect Social Security Without Benefit Cuts

Cranston, R.I. - Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sheldon Whitehouse outlined his plan to keep Social Security solvent for future generations at a conversation with Pawtucket seniors today. During a campaign stop at Kennedy Manor, Whitehouse also pledged to do everything he could to block Republican attempts to privatize the program, an ongoing effort that GOP congressional leaders have said they will resurrect if they are returned to power in this fall's elections.

"Social Security promises a secure and dignified retirement for every American, and we have a responsibility to keep that promise," Whitehouse said. "I believe we need to put Social Security back on solid ground, without cutting benefits for the middle class. It makes zero sense to jeopardize the retirement security of millions of American seniors by risking Social Security funds in the stock market."

Whitehouse's Social Security plan includes raising the amount of income subject to Social Security payroll taxes. He would use a portion of the funds from the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest, such as the further repeal of the estate tax, to bridge any remaining gap to solvency. Whitehouse also called on Congress to block future raids on the Social Security Trust Fund, and restated his strong opposition to privatizing the program.

Speaking to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Republican Congressman Jim McCrery said that Republicans are likely to make Social Security privatization their top priority in 2007 if they retain control. Rep. McCrery chairs the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, and is the leading contender to chair the full committee next year if Republicans remain in the majority in the House.

President Bush, Karl Rove, and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolton have all said explicitly that privatizing Social Security is at the top of their agenda for next year. The President told the Manhattan Institute late in June that "[i]f we can't get it done this year, I'm going to try next year. And if we can't get it done next year, I'm going to try the year after that…"

A study by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) shows that in Rhode Island, Social Security income and benefits now lift 70,000 Rhode Island seniors out of poverty, reducing the percentage of seniors with incomes beneath the poverty line from almost half to less than 6 percent.

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