Congressman Doyle Reacts to President Bush's State of the Union Address

Congressman Doyle Reacts to President Bush's State of the Union Address
February 2, 2005

Washington, D.C. - February 2, 2005 - U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (PA-14) today released the following statement in reaction to President Bush's State of the Union address:

"I was disappointed by the President's State of the Union speech tonight, and especially by his failure to provide much new detail about his plan to privatize Social Security.

"President Bush has been hyping the opportunity that individual accounts could offer to younger workers, but he's been remarkably short on details about how his plan would make Social Security solvent.

"That's because the President understands how unpopular his plan will be once the public finds out that it would eliminate the guaranteed retirement income that Social Security currently provides and replace it with an investment scheme that would produce big winners and big losers.

"The President's effort to create the impression that there's a major impending crisis in the Social Security program sounds strangely familiar to the case he made for Iraq being an imminent threat.

"Social Security's future solvency is a serious issue, but it's not a major crisis. Democrats are committed to keeping Social Security solvent for future generations, and we are prepared to work with this administration to do that without dismantling Social Security's guaranteed benefit.

"For more than 70 years, Americans have been able to count on a guaranteed income from Social Security when they retire. They've earned their Social Security benefits by contributing to the program, and those benefits guarantee them a decent standard of living in their old age. In fact, Social Security is often the only thing that saves millions of senior citizens from living in poverty, uncertainty, and fear.

"I will be working to ensure that any Social Security reform bill Congress passes will guarantee a decent standard of living for both current and future retirees."

http://www.house.gov/doyle/newsrel/pr050202-state.htm