For Immediate Release
Monday, May 15, 2000
Bush's Social Security Privatization Plan "Hurts Working Families," Says AFSCME President
In response to a speech delivered today by Governor George W. Bush, AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee said that Bush's call for partial privatization of Social Security is "way off track. What Bush is proposing would undermine the system for current and future beneficiaries, placing at risk the basic income protection on which millions of workers and their families rely."
McEntee leads the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which counts 1.5 million working and retiree members. "Social Security is the food and rent money for most recipients," McEntee said. "Responsible people don't risk the food and rent money."
He said AFSCME has helped win employer-sponsored savings plans in many workplaces and strongly advocates personal saving and investment for retirement. "But this should be in addition to Social Security. Once that basic income is secure, you can afford to take a little risk in order to have a more comfortable retirement," he said. "But Governor Bush is trying to introduce risk into a system that's supposed to protect us from it."
And, McEntee added, "Bush appears not to have taken into consideration the huge transition costs that would be needed to pay benefits to current recipients while payroll tax dollars are being diverted to fund personal investment accounts for younger workers. This could amount to over a trillion dollars. How will we pay for these costs? By raising the retirement age to 70 or higher? By cutting benefits to current and future retirees? By spending money that could otherwise be used to help pay down the national debt?
"I call on Governor Bush to explain to the American people how he would pay for this partial privatization scheme, " he said, "and how he could accomplish it without placing their retirement security at unacceptable risk.
"Like so many of our AFSCME retiree members, Social Security may be showing a little gray at the temples, but it still makes an enormous contribution to American society," McEntee said. "The system faces some future financial problems, it's true, but these are manageable and the robust economy has pushed them further and further down the road."
