Ed Lorenzen
March 9, 2005


The Social Security debate has been dominated by those who advocate individual accounts to advance an ideological agenda and Democrats who reflexively oppose individual accounts.  An op-ed by Ruth Marcus in the Washington Post highlights one of the responsible voices in the debate.

 

The op-ed, titled "The Right Questions on Social Security: A Democrat's Practical, Compassionate Plan," favorably reviews the Social Security proposal put forward by Bob Pozen, a Democrat who served on the President’s Commission on Social Security reform.  The Pozen plan combines individual accounts with benefit changes that are structured in a progressive manner which protects workers at the bottom end of the income scale and targets changes in the defined benefit system at middle and upper income workers who are not as likely to depend on Social Security as their only source of retirement income.

 

As Marcus notes, the plan does not entirely restore solvency of the Social Security system, but it establishes a strong foundation from which to build a fiscally and socially responsible Social Security reform plan.

 

Excerpt:

It's tempting to describe the Pozen approach as Bush Lite, because it shares many characteristics of the president's preferred model, though that will surely damn it among Democrats. Perhaps a better phrase would be Bush Smart: Pozen's plan is less radical and more compassionate than the president's. It would let workers put 2 percentage points of the money they pay toward Social Security into private accounts, half of what the president proposes, and protect the benefits of those who need them most.

Read the entire op-ed.

Links:

Centrists.Org  "Progressive Approaches to Benefit Changes In Social Security Reform" (January 26, 2005)

Washington Post Op-Ed by Ruth Marcus, "The Right Questions on Social Security: A Democrat's Practical, Compassionate Plan"  (Wednesday, March 9, 2005)