Fuente : Democratic National Committee (DNC) ·
http://www.democrats.org/

Conservatives: Progressive Indexing Guts Social Security for Middle Class Americans

/noticias.info/ Washington, DC - While Democrats raised concerns about the true impact of progressive indexing months ago, over the weekend, two leading conservatives took aim at the "progressive indexing" trial balloon President Bush floated at his primetime news conference last week. Progressive indexing would dramatically cut hard-earned, guaranteed retirement benefits for middle class Americans; it would gut Social Security and unravel what has been the most successful program of its kind.

On Sunday, Republican Senator George Allen (VA) and conservative columnist George Will added their voices to the chorus.
GOP Senator George Allen: Progressive Indexing Hurts "Middle-Income Working People"

On "Meet the Press", Republican Senator George Allen said that he opposed the concept of progressive indexing for Social Security because it would "reduce the retirement security for those particularly middle-income working people." (NBC, 05.01.05)
Conservative Columnist George Will: Social Security Would Become "Less Relevant"

On "This Week", conservative columnist George Will said that progressive indexing of Social Security would "stigmatize" the program by directing it at lower income seniors - at the expense of middle class workers - "making social security less and less relevant to a majority of the American people". (ABC, 05.01.05)
Progressive Indexing would make Social Security an "Empty Shell"

"But critics, including most Democratic lawmakers, say that such an approach would undermine a central bargain conceived during the New Deal: that Social Security is not just a welfare program for the poor but a form of social insurance that people at all income levels pay into and reap rewards from.

"'Social Security is not a poverty program, it is a retirement system people have worked hard for, paid into and have earned,' said Representative Sander M. Levin, Democrat of Michigan. If it becomes increasingly irrelevant for middle-income people, the critics warn, Social Security will eventually become little more than an empty shell." [NYT 5.01.05]

"While Democrats are working to truly address Social Security's long-term challenges and ensure the promise of a hard-earned secure retirement, George Bush has decided that he simply wants to eliminate Social Security over the long term," said DNC spokesman Josh Earnest. "Democrats are committed to finding real solutions to extend Social Security's solvency, so that the hard-earned benefits of America's retirees can be protected." notas_de_prensa_archivo