Economy Thwarting Social Security Changes
N E W Y O R K, Dec. 3 -- Remember the great Social Security debate?
A major issue in the 2000 presidential campaign and a prime piece of President George W. Bush's legislative agenda earlier this year, the matter of changing the nation's Social Security system has been left on the sidelines since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
While Bush had pledged to initiate the first overhaul of the supposedly untouchable "third rail" of American politics in two decades, the country's campaign against terrorism has clearly put it on the back burner.
Indeed, the final meeting in Washington of Bush's hand-appointed Social Security commission last week generated far less political attention than it would have in more peaceful circumstances. The commission will release its formal recommendations later this month.
But with mid-term elections coming up in November 2002, Congress is unlikely to want to broach the subject.
"It would be quite a reach to believe that this would be on the table any time soon," says Ross Baker, a professor of political science at Rutgers University.
Commission Looks at Three Options
Of course, the underlying issue remains as crucial as ever: How to keep America's social safety net paying out its current level of benefits despite the strain of an aging population. Social Security's trustees say it will run a deficit by 2016 unless changes are made.
Social Security and the Pillars of Retirement
In response, the president's Commission to Strengthen Social Security outlined three types of major changes that could be made in hopes of helping the system pay for itself even when the country's numerous baby-boomers stop working and start drawing retirement.
One option includes Bush's pet proposal: to give people the chance to privately invest a small portion of their allotted funds, in the hope of earning greater returns than Social Security can give them. As a trade-off, those people would get a smaller guaranted payout when they retire.
The other options considered by the commission include raising benefits over time based on the rate of inflation, instead of wages; and reducing benefits while raising the retirement age and drawing in more than $10 billion a year from general government funds.
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