Silence on Meet the Press

December 21, 1999

In their debate on Sunday's Meet the Press, Al Gore and Bill Bradley vowed to show leadership on Social Security reform. But the Democratic presidential contenders shared, in the Associated Press's words, "a determination to dodge politically difficult questions about Social Security's future."

Both Bradley and Gore vowed not to increase the retirement age for Social Security eligibility, but refused to address any steps they might take to address the program's looming insolvency other than dedicating the budget surplus to the program.

Meet the Press host Tim Russert pressed the candidates on what they would do if projected surpluses did not materialize. "Reality check," Russert said. "Suddenly there are no surpluses. The economy goes into a downturn. Then what happens to Social Security and Medicare?"

Neither candidate would be drawn on the issue. "I'm not going to get into going down the whole list of possibilities," Bradley declared, though neither he nor Gore would elaborate on their silence.

Social Security is a real problem. It demands real solutions. Silence, which is what Bradley and Gore offered on Meet the Press, is not one of them.

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