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Bush brings reform plan to Iowans
CEDAR RAPIDS (AP) ? President Bush held a town hall meeting in this eastern Iowa city on Wednesday to advance his campaign for Social Security reform, saying he would be stubborn in sticking to his plan.
Bush said changes are needed for younger workers to have a retirement system in place.
"Social Security has worked for a lot of people," the president said. "The problem is there's a hole in the safety net for the generation that is coming up."
Bush delivered his message to a carefully screened crowd of about 1,000 people at Kirkwood Community College. He also spoke live on two of the state's largest radio stations.
The president has made Social Security his top domestic priority and said his message is beginning to resonate.
"People are beginning to hear our message, that we have a problem," Bush said. "This issue is beginning to permeate."
According to Social Security trustees, the system will be paying out more than it takes in by 2017 and could go broke by 2041.
"You've got more people getting greater benefits and living longer, with fewer people paying into the system. That doesn't work," Bush said.
The president is calling on Congress to act now to resolve future funding problems. He told the crowd in Cedar Rapids that he was inviting all ideas to the table.
"The longer we wait, the harder it's going to be for younger workers to make up the difference," he said.
Bush was accompanied by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who heads the influential Senate Finance Committee.
"The president and I are like a builder and an architect," Grassley said. "We agree on a blueprint."
Grassley has said that the ability of Congress to approve revisions to the Social Security system depends on Bush's ability to persuade voters that changes are needed.
The veteran Iowa senator has said delaying action even for a year would cost $600 billion.
"We've got to turn up the heat on Washington, D.C., to see this as an issue," Grassley said. "Doing nothing is not an option."
Also attending the events were Reps. Jim Nussle and Jim Leach, both R-Iowa, who have yet to stake out positions on Social Security reform.
With that in mind, True Majority Action, a nonprofit group opposed to the president's plan, began running radio spots in Iowa on Wednesday.
"This makes it easy for Iowans to tell their Congress members not to risk privatizing Social Security," said Duane Peterson, a spokesman for the group.
As part of the revision, Bush wants to allow workers younger than 55 to divert part of their Social Security taxes, up to 4 percent, to private investment accounts, such as stocks, bonds or mutual funds.
At the forum, Bush brought along friendly backers from all generations to urge him on. They included a farmer from near Pella, a nurse from Cedar Rapids and a 20-year-old Kirkwood student from Marion.
Jeff Brown, 36, a University of Illinois economics professor, said he has been studying Social Security for 10 years.
"Social Security faces very severe financial problems and they start pretty soon," Brown said.
Dennis Bogart, 33, who began farming with his father near Pella in 1995, said he favors personal retirement accounts because he wants greater control over this own money.
"I want that money to be available to my son and daughter," he said.
He said he has little faith that Social Security in its current form will survive.
Forum attendees were carefully selected. Only those given tickets were allowed to attend and tickets were limited to Bush supporters known to organizers.Critics were working to make their voices known as well. A small group of protesters was kept well away from Bush's event, but officials from AARP, the nation's largest group representing older Americans, held a news conference earlier in the day to announce results of a member survey.
Their poll showed 60 percent of AARP members oppose private accounts.
Bush, who will turn 62 when he leaves office in 2008, said those nearing retirement have a moral obligation to protect younger workers.
"People are beginning to understand that the promises made to my generation may not be kept for others," he said.
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