GOP Courts Blacks and Hispanics on Social Security.

A 3-20-05 New York Times article notes:

As part of their campaign to overhaul Social Security, White House officials and Republican strategists have begun a push to persuade African-Americans and Hispanics that Social Security, long thought to be of benefit to them, is a bad deal.

Republican officials argue that blacks are being shortchanged under the current Social Security system because they tend to die earlier than do whites and to collect retirement benefits for fewer years.

In a parallel effort aimed at Hispanics, they focus on the wealth that people could build through the sort of individual investment accounts that the Bush administration has proposed.

African-American and Hispanic communities are strongholds of Democratic support, and retirees in each group rely more heavily on Social Security benefits than whites do.

But Republican Party officials are stepping up their efforts, enlisting black and Hispanic business executives, evangelical church leaders and even college students.

The effort has infuriated many who say that Social Security is more important for their communities than it is for whites.

"It's one of the best deals that poor and working poor can get, and blacks unfortunately are overrepresented in those groups," said Representative Charles B. Rangel, Democrat of New York and a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus. "If one of the appeals to blacks is that they're not getting a fair shake because they die earlier, it would seem to me that they would at least address the question of why they die earlier and what we can do about it."

Studies by the Treasury Department and the Government Accountability Office indicate that Social Security provides more generous benefits to low-income workers, blacks included, even after accounting for shorter life expectancies.

Social Security is the only source of income for about 38 percent of black retirees and 40 percent of Hispanic retirees, according to government data. In contrast, only 18 percent of white retirees receive income exclusively from Social Security.

The system is intended to be more generous, relative to taxes paid, to low-income workers. Retirement benefits replace about 70 percent of working income for a person who earns $10,000 year. But benefits replace only 28.5 percent of earnings for a person who earns $70,000

African-Americans . . . receive a disproportionate share of disability benefits and survivor benefits, which are paid to spouses and children of workers who die early.

African-Americans account for about 12 percent of the population, for example, but African-American children account for 23 percent of children who receive Social Security survivor benefits.

Many large African-American organizations, like the National Associated for the Advancement of Colored People, remain adamantly opposed to Mr. Bush's plan.

Hispanic groups are more divided. The League of United Latin American Citizens has firmly opposed Mr. Bush's call for private accounts.

But the National Council of La Raza has taken a more nuanced position. Last month, the organization said it welcomed the debate over Social Security but "does not believe that the system needs to be dramatically restructured."