McCain Social Security plan criticized
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By Daniel Barlow Vermont Press Bureau - Published: August 15, 2008
MONTPELIER – On the 73rd birthday of the Social Security system, Vermont Democrats warned that a privatization plan supported by Republican Sen. John McCain would result in 19,000 more Vermonters falling into poverty.
Democrats said that if the Arizona senator is elected president this fall, his Social Security plan would undermine the economic security of many Vermont senior citizens and place a greater burden on the state to care for them.
"If this plan went forward, we would see many more Vermonters pushed into poverty and more and more people relying on state programs to survive," said Judy Bevans, the vice chairman of the Vermont Democratic Party. "We just can't afford that."
Thursday's news conference to highlight the issue was part of a coordinated effort by Democrats to both celebrate the anniversary of the formation of the Social Security system – a New Deal program signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935 – and to warn that the system could be threatened by another Republican presidential administration.
On the same day, the Democratic National Committee warned in an e-mail that the "Bush-McCain Social Security privatization plan would blow a hole in the federal budget and end Social Security as we know it."
And Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, struck a similar theme in an e-mail Thursday, saying "privatization is wrong and tears at the fabric of Social Security – the very idea of mutual responsibility – by subjecting a secure, earned retirement to the whims of the market."
Jeff Grappone, McCain's New England communications director, said Thursday that the senator wants to work in a bipartisan manner to ensure the financial security of Social Security and part of the equation involves "empowering Americans" to create personal investment accounts.
"Looks like the Democrats are back to their same old election year scare tactics," Grappone wrote in an e-mail. "So much for Barack Obama's politics of change."
A report titled "The Perils of Privatization" released this month by the Institute for America's Future, a think-tank that analyzes progressive causes, details the impact such a plan would have on each of the states. It notes that about 117,000 Vermonters receive social security checks each month, averaging about $1,075.
The report states that a privatization plan similar to the one floated by President Bush three years ago would mean an average of $160,000 less in lifetime payments to those receiving benefits, resulting in 19,000 Vermonters dropping into poverty.
"In 2005, 35,000 Vermont seniors relied on Social Security checks for at least half of their total income," the report reads. "17,000 of these individuals depend on these benefits for almost all – 90 percent or more – of their total income."
Democrats weren't the only ones congratulating Social Security on Thursday. John Bloch, a member of the Vermont Alliance for Retired Americans and a progressive candidate for Washington County senate, brought a delegation of 10 other retired Vermonters to the Social Security office in Montpelier on Thursday morning.
And they brought with them a cake, cupcakes and candles as a show of appreciation to the workers there.
"We wanted to thank them for all their hard work," said Bloch. "We might even make this an annual occasion so we can thank them more often."
Bloch agreed that McCain's plans for Social Security would hurt Vermonters, especially seniors who are on tight budgets.
The system – which has less than 1 percent administrative overhead – works, he said, and opening it up to the market would cut right at its long-term solvency.
"These brokers charge up to 3 percent to manage your account," he said. "And with the way the market is going, they'll be charging you for losing your money. That's a wonderful arrangement for them."
Contact Daniel Barlow at Daniel.Barlow@timesargus.com.
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