Campaigns disagree on retirement fund future

A bastion of American fiscal policy -- Social Security -- has found itself vaulted to center stage among the many issues surrounding this year's presidential election. Social Security provides monthly payments to retired workers out of taxes collected annually. But analysts predict that the trust fund that supports Social Security will become insolvent by 2040 unless the system is revamped. Both Vice President Al Gore and his opponent, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, have offered plans to extend the solvency of the Social Security trust fund, guaranteeing payments to retired workers until at least 2054. Gore, the Democratic candidate, has proposed protecting the surplus by putting the funds in a "lockbox," forbidding the money from being used for any purpose other than those associated with Social Security. Bush, on the other hand, wants to allow younger workers to privately invest $1 trillion of what they would otherwise pay in Social Security taxes in order to receive a higher return. Critics say that neither plan solves the coming fiscal crisis and that millions of Baby Boomers will find themselves out of luck once they retire. And both campaigns are using the final days of the campaign to attack their opponent's plan. "When it comes to Social Security, Al Gore's status quo approach will force Americans to either pay higher taxes or shoulder massive cuts in Social Security benefits," Bush campaign spokesman Dan Bartlett said in a statement. But Gore, not surprisingly, disputes that. "Gore will not raise the retirement age," Gore campaign spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said, responding that true solvency is found in the Democrat's plan. Others too have criticized Bush's proposal, claiming that it creates an impossibility, given that he has promised that older Americans will not see any reductions in payments, even as younger Americans are investing funds taken away from the trust fund. "His proposal for Social Security would promise $1 trillion to two different groups of people," Gore said in a statement last week, echoing the themes of a commercial that his campaign has spent millions to air in key battleground states. The Bush campaign has steadfastly denied the charge. "There is a lot of inaccurate and deceptive information being relayed and distributed by the Gore campaign," Bush campaign spokesman Ken Lisaius said. "This is an effort to scare people." According to the Bush campaign, the money from the Social Security surplus -- the trust fund is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to have a $2.4 trillion surplus over the next 10 years -- will be more than enough to fund Bush's privatization plan and his $1 trillion tax cut. "The surplus will exist after all benefits are payed," Lisaius said, contending that seniors will see no reduction in payments. The Gore campaign, steady in its charge that "Bush has essentially created a fiscal impossibility," says that under its plan there is no question that seniors will be guaranteed payments, both current and future retirees. Both campaigns have enlisted the support of senior celebrities to get their messages across. General Norman Schwarzkopf of Desert Storm fame has taped a telephone message for the Bush campaign that senior citizens in battleground states began receiving yesterday. Actor Ed Asner has done the same for the Democrats. For an issue that seems to apply more to the elderly than to younger Americans, both campaigns are quick to point out that younger voters should consider the Social Security issue while making their decisions in the final week of the campaign. "Addressing the long-term problems associated with this program is one of the most important issues in the election," Lisaius said. "Our parents are reaching retirement age and will soon be relying on Social Security as a major part of their retirement. Gore supporters agree. "In the long-term future this is going to concern all of us," College sophomore and College Democrats member Arshad Hasan said. "There is a fundamental choice," Pfeiffer said. "A vote for George Bush is for putting one of the oldest, most successful programs in dire straits." The Bush campaign sees a philosophical distinction as well. "This election is about trusting people or trusting the government," Lisaius said.