Mr. Bush's Remarks:
Mr. Gore's Remarks:
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"First, we must not change Social Security for those now retired, or nearing retirement. Let me put this plainly. For those on Social Security or close to receiving it, nothing will change. Government has made a commitment, and you have made your plans. These promises will be honored. Yet, without reform, younger workers face a great risk - a lifetime of paying taxes for benefits they may never receive. The reforms I have in mind will actually increase their retirement income.
Second, all Social Security funds in the federal surplus must stay where they belong, dedicated to Social Security. In my economic plan, more than $ 2 trillion of the federal surplus is locked away for Social Security. For years, politicians in both parties have dipped into the Trust Fund to pay for more spending. And I will stop it.
Third, the payroll tax must not be raised. We cannot tax our way to reform.
Fourth, reform should include personal retirement accounts for young people, an element of all the major bipartisan plans. The idea works very simply. A young worker can take some portion of his or her payroll tax and put it in a fund that invests in stocks and bonds. We will establish basic standards of safety and soundness, so that investments are only in steady, reliable funds. There will be no fly-by-night speculators or day traders. And money in this account could only be used for retirement, or passed along as an inheritance.
Right now, the real return people get from what they put into Social Security is a dismal 2 percent a year. Over the long term, sound investments yield about a 6 percent return. Investing that 4 percent difference, over a lifetime, can show dramatic results. A worker who invests even a limited portion of his or her paycheck could, over a career, end up with hundreds of thousands of dollars for retirement.
Our nation must reform Medicare, and, in doing so, ensure that prescription drugs are affordable and available for every senior who needs them. As with Social Security, Medicare reform must be guided by clear tenets.
When I am President, I will lead Republicans and Democrats to reform and strengthen Medicare and set it on firm financial ground.
And I make this pledge to seniors. Every senior will have access to prescription drug benefits.
Prescription drugs are becoming the treatment of choice. Drugs are often more cost-effective than surgery or hospitalization, with fewer risks and better results. And the picture gets better year by year. By one estimate, suppliers are now working on more than 600 new medicines to treat the causes of disability among seniors.
But prescription drugs can be expensive. The average senior already pays $ 450 each year in out-of-pocket drug expenses. Twelve percent of Medicare beneficiaries have drug bills of $ 1000 or more. Ninety-eight percent of health plans today offer some form of prescription drug benefit. Yet Medicare does not. And this must change."
"Social Security is a solemn compact between the generations. It is a basic guarantee of retirement security, built on a guaranteed minimum benefit. No matter what is happening on Wall Street, no matter how the economy is doing, Social Security is supposed to be there to guarantee a decent retirement for every American.
We know that many people can build up extra retirement savings through private investment and I.R.A.s. That's important, and I support it. Investing in the stock market is not only good for individual Americans, it's good for America.
But that kind of private investment is meant not to replace Social Security, but to build on the foundation of Social Security. If we turn Social Security into a system of winners and losers, we will be jeopardizing retirement security for too many Americans and, in the end, we will all have to pay to make up the difference.
I've laid out a detailed plan to reform and strengthen Social Security, a plan that is based on fiscal responsibility and debt reduction.
If I'm entrusted with the presidency, I'll balance the federal budget every year, and pay down our national debt every year, putting America on the road to becoming debt-free by the year 2013. That's the only way we can get ready to meet our obligations through Social Security.
Then I'll make sure we use the budget surplus and the money we save from paying down the debt to save Social Security first. I'll devote all the interest savings from debt reduction to the Social Security Trust Fund. That way we can keep Social Security solvent until at least 2050.
There is a fundamental difference on this issue in this election, which offers the country the most critical choice on Social Security since it was first enacted in 1935. Because there is a right way to reform Social Security, and a wrong way.
George W. Bush outlined his approach in a speech this morning. We still don't know all the details of his plan, but we do know that he is proposing to partially privatize Social Security.
Today, when Wall Street is booming, I know that plan sounds appealing. It probably sounds like an easy way to make more money, and have more control over your retirement.
But, in reality, the Bush Social Security privatization plan would weaken our national economy and undermine the basic guarantee of a minimum decent retirement. It would weaken our economy because it would make it impossible to pay down our national debt. It would cost about $ 1 trillion over 10 years to meet today's obligations through Social Security while allowing people to set up these individual accounts. And at the same time, Governor Bush is proposing a huge tax cut of nearly $ 2 trillion.
The numbers just don't add up, and under the Bush plan, a serious reduction of our national debt is simply impossible....
The Bush Social Security privatization plan also threatens the Social Security guarantee for future generations of retirees. That guarantee is the whole purpose of Social Security. Yet under the Bush Plan, you could lose some or all of the money you invest, and millions could be left without enough to make ends meet.
Today, in The Dallas Morning News, Governor Bush was asked whether his plan would guarantee that future beneficiaries would receive no less than they would have under today's system. His answer, "Maybe, maybe not."
In other words, Governor Bush admits that his plan takes the "security" out of Social Security. Well, I believe you deserve a guarantee, not a "maybe".
1. The Adverse Effects of the Current Bush Plan Would Be:
b. Putting at risk of $ 1 trillion of private individual investments.
c. Increased $ 1.3 trillion tax cut for the wealthy.
b. Increase of $ 1 trillion in general budget expenditures.
c. No significant improvement in Medicare for seniors.
1. "Social Security Trust Fund Being Used to Reduce the National Debt".
2. "The Wall Street Journal on The Social Security Trust Fund".
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