'Cutting Social Security Benefits to Pay for Risky Private Accounts Would Be Unjust and Unsuccessful'

'Cutting Social Security Benefits to Pay for Risky Private Accounts Would Be Unjust and Unsuccessful'

Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on recent comments by President Bush's top economic advisor, Gregory Mankiw, arguing for dramatic cuts in future Social Security benefits:

"Every Social Security proposal the Bush Administration is publicly considering includes cuts in guaranteed benefits. Now we know why: the Bush Administration deems the current system, with its average monthly benefit of $955, as too generous. Only the callous would believe that $955 per month is too extravagant for seniors who have spent their entire lives paying into the system with the belief that it would be there for them when they retired.

"The Administration wants to cut benefits by more than 40 percent to help pay the trillions of dollars that would be needed for private accounts, but the truth is that private accounts will do nothing to improve the financial health of Social Security. Private accounts will, however, drain funding that otherwise could have been used to shore up the system. To cut Social Security benefits to pay for risky private accounts would be unjust and unsuccessful.

"By providing a guaranteed, core retirement income, Social Security is crucial for helping American seniors achieve retirement security. The benefit cuts being proposed by the Bush Administration would jeopardize the retirement security of millions of American workers, leaving them unable to maintain a basic standard of living."

http://www.house.gov/pelosi/press/releases/Jan05/SocialSecurity011005.html