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I don’t usually spend much time disagreeing with people I mostly agree with, but a column in National Review by the Cato Institute’s Michael Tanner — my old boss and an all-around great guy — presents a chance to talk about why Social Security reform has proved to be such a difficult task for those who believe in free markets and individual choice. Here’s where I agree with Mike: “Given their large lead in current polls, it is perhaps understandable that Republicans don’t want to risk offending voters, particularly seniors, by wading back into the Social Security thicket. But they...

Fred Thompson's presidential campaign has been unorthodox since Day 1, and his decision to grab the "third rail" of American politics with both hands is a clear indication that he really is a different kind of candidate. Since agreeing to run, after a mild draft effort by conservatives looking to fill the void in the race for a candidate who shared their views and values, Thompson has pursued what can only be considered a nontraditional path. He has eschewed the traditional 24/7 campaign run by his competitors and expected by the Washington-based mainstream news media, which has labeled him poorly...

Presidential Race: The war for the soul of the Republican Party was won in 1980 by Ronald Reagan. Presidential candidates who want to re-wage the conflict in 2008 will only weaken the GOP against the Democrats' nominee. In the aftermath of Vietnam, Watergate and a Jimmy Carter presidency that rendered America an economic and foreign policy basket case, Republicans discovered a tried-and-true recipe for electoral success. They would stand for three sets of principles: • Lowering high taxes and stemming the growth of government in order to revive the private economy, lower inflation and interest rates, and generate jobs. •...

It's one of the toughest and most divisive issues facing the American people. And how we respond will have a profound impact on future generations. Yet many elected officials refuse to even talk about it. President Bush proposed a plan to deal with the issue but couldn't even get members of his own party to go along. Congress blew its shot at reform in a flurry of distortions, sound bites and fear-mongering. And most of the presidential candidates won't go anywhere near the subject, perhaps sensing that it could cost them votes. The issue, of course, is Social Security reform....

Lately, Democrats have taken to showcasing the hallmark courage overflowing their party’s ranks. For instance, Senator Clinton has boldly unveiled her plan to fix the looming train wreck that is Social Security—namely, to dodge unveiling a plan to fix Social Security. Who knew? One-upping this bawdy exhibition of true grit, Senator Obama, presented his own daring strategy. His plan? “Tax the rich!” Brilliant! Of course, by “rich” he means you, through raising the payroll tax cap to get at even more of your income. How “innovative.” An added bonus: deepening the eventual crisis by reducing tax receipts, but that’s a...

The phrase has long since entered the political lexicon, but it was former House Speaker and Massachusetts Representative Tip O'Neill who first christened Social Security the "third rail of American politics." The reasoning behind his snide dubbing is twofold: the high political mortality rate of those who suggest change to the program, and avoidance of the issue by even Washington's most forthcoming public officials. During the Oct. 9 GOP debate, presidential candidate Fred Thompson threw conventional wisdom to the wind and grabbed the rail. Hard. Thompson called Social Security's current trajectory "unsustainable" and proposed reducing the benefits of recipients to...

The best specific Social Security reform proposal by a 2008 presidential candidate comes from Republican Fred Thompson — by default. That's because the plan the former Tennessee senator released last week is the only specific Social Security proposal from any of the White House hopefuls. While the other candidates apparently are wary about going beyond generalities — and some not even that far — on this thorny issue, the next Oval Office occupant won't be able to responsibly duck the tough choices required to save Social Security. President Bush repeatedly tried — and failed — to implement such reform through...

Courage & Honesty Republican presidential contender Fred Thompson's plan to save Social Security and protect seniors, which he introduced Friday afternoon in a Washington, D.C., hotel, differs starkly from standard election year pablum on the subject in one key way: He's actually treating voters like adults. (ABC, 11/9) Thompson...is seeking to show he is willing to take on tough issues if elected in November 2008, telling a news conference in Washington he was the only candidate to offer an extensive Social Security plan. (Reuters, 11/10) "You certainly have to admire his courage for putting this out," said Alan Viard with...

Washington (AHN) - Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson proposed Friday to reduce promised retirement benefits and to create a system of voluntary personal retirement accounts that can also help to finance the Social Security program. Under the proposal, retirement benefits for workers who are now 58 and older will not be affected. Employees who are now younger will get smaller monthly Social Security pensions because their benefits will be calculated based on the yearly increase in prices. Meanwhile, the personal retirement accounts will be funded with workers' contributions to be matched by funds from the Social Security trust fund. Workers...

Michael Tanner is director of health and welfare studies at the Cato Institute and editor of Social Security and Its Discontents (2005). At a press conference with fellow Democrats at the Statehouse on Monday night, Senator Robert Menendez attacked his Republican opponent, Thomas Kean, Jr., for secretly supporting President Bush's proposal for "privatizing" Social Security. Kean denied the charge and responded with a few of his own, but in swapping barbs, neither candidate gave us the slightest clue what they would do to solve the program's looming problems. The facts are simple: Social Security will begin running a deficit in...

This past Wednesday, when I attended Students for Saving Social Security’s event on Social Security reform with roughly 300 other young people, I was overcome by an unusual Washington, D.C. emotion—hope. Having only lived in our nation’s capital for about a year, I have not yet succumbed to the total disillusionment and cynicism of many people, but it has certainly affected my optimistic tendencies. But in contradiction to my sometimes-attitude that nothing in this city ever gets done, let alone gets done right, I found myself believing something could be changed. Social Security was considered for decades to be the...

Delphi's bankruptcy filing -- a result of mounting, unsustainable pension costs incurred decades ago -- was grim news for its creditors, its stockholders, and its tens of thousands of workers. But it was also a warning of things to come: for the entire American auto industry, and for Social Security as well. Delphi was a GM division until its spinoff in 1999. As part of that deal, America's largest auto maker granted over 4,000 Delphi employees the right to return to GM. Now, those workers are taking General Motors up on its generous promise. GM will take responsibility for their...

SANTIAGO, Chile I made a pilgrimage to Santiago seeking to resolve the Social Security debate with a simple question: What would Pablo Serra do? I wanted to compare our pensions to see the results of an accidental experiment that began in 1961, when he and I were friends in second grade at a school in Chile. He remained in Chile and became the test subject; I returned to America as the control group. By the time we finished college, both of our countries' pension systems were going broke. Chile responded by pioneering a system of private accounts in 1981. America...

Lawmakers and interest groups are gearing up for a fight this fall over Social Security, each side hoping to use the retirement and disability program's 70th birthday to build momentum. An electronic card from the opposite side of the debate, circulated by the Coalition for the Modernization and Protection of America's Social Security, or CoMPASS, shows a Social Security birthday cake sliced and served. Without major reform, it warns, children will be left with the crumbs.

....The cost over 10 years would be $75 billion. Democrats say the money will come from tax increases on the wealthy. "Well, we certainly in the Ways and Means Committee have a very attractive group of high income people that are getting a tax cut that they didn't ask for and the budget doesn't need, and we will be able to pay for everything that we have in the plan," said Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., the ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee. Democrats say their plan does nothing to alter Social Security financing or benefits. That means,...

The recent annual report issued by the Social Security Board of Trustees demonstrates with undeniable clarity that Social Security faces a looming financial crisis. Worse still, the report shows Social Security's lurch toward insolvency has accelerated. In just a little more than a decade, Social Security will begin to run a deficit, the study shows. Deficits will continue and amplify every year well beyond the turn of the next century. Despite early protestations from many on Capitol Hill that "there is no crisis," few serious observers of the current state of Social Security hold out hope the system can survive...

WASHINGTON -- In recent weeks I had become increasingly glum about the prospects for Social Security reform this year (although I think in the long run the pro-reform movement will prevail). Thus, I couldn't get too excited by the release of Senator Jim DeMint's new plan. But I have to reconsider. The basics of DeMint's plan are that it only uses the Social Security surplus to create personal accounts and it initially only puts treasury bonds in those accounts. In early 2008 an advisory board similar to the one that manages the Thrift Savings Plan will start adding other investment...

Claims public ‘doesn’t support private accounts,’ but facts show otherwise. Even as President Bush endorsed a new Social Security plan that didn’t focus on personal accounts, poor coverage of the reform issue continued. This time, it was CNN’s Ed Henry claiming that people don’t support personal accounts even though that isn’t the case. According to Henry, on the June 21, 2005, “Inside Politics,” “We see polls across the board saying that the public by and large doesn’t support private accounts.” Henry didn’t cite any of the polls showing this overwhelming opposition. Henry didn’t even bother to quote from the skewed...

Key House Republicans crafted Social Security legislation Wednesday that shuns the painful measures needed to assure long-term solvency and omits President Bush's call for personal accounts financed with payroll taxes. Instead, the measure showcases a promise, designed to reassure seniors, that Social Security surplus funds will be used only to create individual accounts that differ sharply from Bush's approach. Despite the differences from Bush's proposals, Democrats quickly attacked the legislation, which is emerging in different forms in the House and Senate. Sen. Max Baucus (news, bio, voting record), D-Mont., called it "a smaller version of a bad idea. That bad...

With the acquiescence of their leaders, key House Republicans are drafting Social Security legislation stripped of President Bush's proposed personal accounts financed with payroll taxes and lacking provisions aimed at assuring long-term solvency. Instead, according to officials familiar with the details, the measure showcases a promise, designed to reassure seniors, that Social Security surplus funds will be held inviolate, available only to create individual accounts that differ sharply from Bush's approach. Under current law, any Social Security payroll tax money not used to finance monthly benefits is in effect lent by Social Security to the Treasury, which uses it to...