Democratic Platform on Social Security
August 16, 2000
Following are excerpts from the Democratic platform, available online:
Americans’ golden years should be times of calm and security, not concern
and stress. Few achievements testify more to the ability of government to do
good than Social Security. It has lifted millions of elderly Americans out of
poverty and helped them make ends meet. Social Security is more than a government
program. It is a solemn compact between the generations. It is our nation’s
most important family protection. The choice for Americans on this vital part
of our national heritage has never been more clear: Democrats believe in using
our prosperity to save Social Security; the Republicans’ tax cut would prevent
America from ensuring our senior citizens have a secure retirement. We owe it
to America’s children and their children to make the strength and solvency of
Social Security a major national priority.
That’s why Al Gore is committed to making Social Security safe and secure
for more than half a century by using the savings from our current unprecedented
prosperity to strengthen the Social Security Trust Fund in preparation for the
retirement of the Baby Boom generation. We now have an extraordinary opportunity
to maintain Social Security. In addition, we can reform it – not the wrong way,
with proposals such as raising the retirement age, but the right way – with
fiscal discipline and by making it fairer for widows, widowers, and mothers.
Retirement security comes on many fronts. Democrats have successfully passed
reforms to simplify the pension process for small businesses, expand pension
portability, and protect employee pension funds. Democrats believe that workers’
pensions should be protected and more portable. We also believe that changes
in every American’s pension rights should be fully disclosed. This is becoming
increasingly important today, as pensions are progressively being shifted from
a workers’ benefit plan to a workers’ contribution plan. We believe these changes
need to be carefully examined by independent agencies to make sure they abide
by current federal law. Democrats support President Clinton’s veto of the Republican
tax scheme that would have diminished anti-discrimination protections for middle-class
and lower-income workers.
To build on the success of Social Security, Al Gore has proposed the creation
of Retirement Savings Plus – voluntary, tax-free, personally-controlled, privately-managed
savings accounts with a government match that would help couples build a nest
egg of up to $400,000. Separate from Social Security, Retirement Savings Plus
accounts would let Americans save and invest on top of the foundation of Social
Security’s guaranteed benefit. Under this plan, the federal government would
match individual contributions with tax credits, with the hardest-pressed working
families getting the most assistance.
The Republicans have a far different idea – a scheme that would come not in
addition to Social Security but at the expense of it. Their Social Security
privatization plot would siphon $1 trillion in payroll taxes away from the Social
Security trust fund, take 14 years off the life of Social Security, eliminate
the fundamental guarantee of retirement security, and raise the specter of massive
government bail-outs. And, according to independent analyses, the Republicans’
privatization plan would cut the guaranteed benefits for young workers by as
much as 54 percent. It would take the “security” out of Social Security.
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