GOP senator questions Social Security plan
Maine's Snowe cites concern among senior citizens about cuts
From Dana Bash
CNN Washington Bureau
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A key Senate Republican is questioning President Bush's plans to overhaul Social Security, amounting to perhaps the most public GOP skepticism to date of the White House effort.
"I think that public discussions thus far, without a specific proposal, has created and enhanced a lot of confusion and fear among seniors, wondering if their benefits now are going to be cut," Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said Sunday on CNN's "Inside Politics."
Snowe is a self-described moderate on the Senate Finance Committee, which will craft any Social Security overhaul package.
Her stance is likely to be crucial for the fate of Bush's plans to overhaul the system with individual privatized accounts that some critics say would cost as much as $2 trillion to $3 trillion to fund.
Snowe said she was not opposed to the idea of personal savings accounts as long as it was "part of a larger retirement security picture as one dimension" and said she worries about eroding basic tenets of the program.
"I'm certainly not going to support diverting $2 trillion from Social Security into creating personal savings accounts," Snowe said.
"The existing program, as it has been developed in the last 70 years, provides a stable monthly income that has prevented seniors, almost 50 percent from falling into poverty. I don't think we want to erode the principles of that system."
Not only was Snowe critical of the White House plan and public relations effort in recent weeks to press the need for reform of Social Security without many details, she also questioned the need for a massive overhaul now.
"There's various scenarios and interpretations about that urgency. I think first we have to get the facts," she said. "There are too many interpretations of the facts, and those scenarios could change based on the variables incorporated in those projections."
Social Security Trustees say the system will begin to put out more money than it takes in in 2018, and it will run out of money in 2042. The Congressional Budget Office projects that shortfall won't happen until 2052.
Bush has asserted the Social Security program is in a "crisis," saying he wants to reform the system before it's too late.
Democrats such as Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts have said the White House is hyping the extent of the problem to promote a GOP principle of moving government programs into the private sector.
Snowe said she's hearing a lot of concern from senior citizens in her home state worried their benefits will be cut. The president has been vague in his proposal so far but has promised not to cut benefits for those at or near retirement.
"That's an important statement to make, and I think that certainly has to get out there because I think it is still -- there is a lot of fear among seniors," Snowe said.
"I think we have to look at, you know, many issues. And first of all, we have to reach a consensus on the level of urgency and the magnitude of the problem before we develop a long-term solution."
Snowe, who said the Bush administration had not contacted her about its plans, urged Congress to take a "thoughtful approach" on the matter.
"We should not be acting precipitously to undermine the basic tenet of this program that has worked well for 70 years by providing a defined, guaranteed benefit," she said.
Snowe, who is up for re-election in 2006, comes from a state that backed Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, in the November presidential election. Maine also has a large population of senior citizens.
