President Bush Described His Social Security Plan

The Bush-Cheney campaign’s rhetoric directly contradicts President Bush’s own statements on Social Security privatization.  The Bush Social Security privatization plan creates personal stock market accounts with Social Security funds.  Independent analysis has shown that the Bush plan would cost trillions of dollars, force cuts to guaranteed benefits, and threaten to raise the retirement age.

President Bush said he wants to privatize Social Security.

• “What privatization does is allows the individual worker -- his or her choice -- to set aside money in a managed account with parameters in the marketplace." --President Bush [ABC News, Oct. 29, 2002]

• “The President has also proposed that choice be a feature of Social Security itself, allowing individuals to voluntarily invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in personal retirement accounts.” [www.WhiteHouse.gov, Oct. 19, 2004]

President Bush’s spokespeople say he never said what he said.

• “Bush ‘has never used the word privatization. The Kerry campaign is talking offhand, third-hand” --Bush-Cheney campaign spokesman Kevin Madden [Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 18, 2004]

• “The president never used the word ‘privatized’ because his plan would not privatize the system.” --Bush-Cheney campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt [Washington Post, Oct. 18, 2004]

• “Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt began contacting reporters to state flatly that Bush never said the word ‘privatizing’ at the donors lunch, nor ever would, insisting that it misstates his proposals and is politically loaded. ‘The president has never used the word ‘privatization’ -- ever,’ said Schmidt.” --Bush-Cheney campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt [Boston Globe, Oct. 18, 2004]

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**NOTE: For more information about President Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security, please contact Campaign for America’s Future Communications Director Toby Chaudhuri at 202-955-5665.**