Campaign Roundup: Candidate Standing Firm on Individual Accounts

September 12, 2002

As election season nears and issues become more heated, candidates Rep. John Thune (R-SD), Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT), Texas Attorney General John Cornyn, and Rep. John Sununu of New Hampshire continue to support giving individuals the option to divert a portion of their Social Security tax into a personal retirement account.

Rep. John Thune (R-SD) opposes government investment of Social Security funds in the stock market. Instead, according to the Yankton Press and Dakotan, Thune supports "allowing Americans to invest in private retirement accounts in addition to their Social Security." "We are seeing the need for more retirement funds because we are living longer," Thune said. "When they figured the average age of longevity for Social Security, the lifespan at that time was 63.8 years."

According to Associated Press's Diane Scaroponi, Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT) "supports the idea of allowing workers to invest 2 percent of their taxable wages in stocks for individual Social Security accounts." "I want younger workers to have that option, to invest in a personal account just like federal employees have that option," Johnson said. "One solution is clearly to give younger people a sense of ownership over their Social Security benefit."

Texas Senate hopeful John Cornyn contrasts himself with opponent Ron Kirk on the issue of Social Security by showing support for personal retirement accounts. According to The Austin American Statesman, "the Texas attorney general has stuck to his position that workers should be able to invest part of their Social Security savings in the stock market." Also, The Austin American Statesman adds that Cornyn believes reform will "allow even low-income workers to build their own nest egg, and, over time, the returns will be at least four to six times higher than the current system."

Rep. John E. Sununu, a New Hampshire Senate hopeful, supports Social Security modernization. According to the Associated Press's Harry Weber, "Sununu supports privatizing Social Security for younger workers because it would allow them to control a small portion of their retirement and get a better return than under the current system. He isn't fazed by the prolonged downturn of the stock market." Sununu says, "there's no denying the demographics that show in 30 or 40 years we will have fewer people working for each person that's retired. So we have to begin looking at ways to modernize and strengthen the system so it will be as reliable for my children as it was for my parents or grandparents."

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