Rubin: Social Security ranks 3rd behind deficit reduction & Medicare reform as the most important economic policy issue facing the country.
Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, the steward of President Clinton’s economic policy, told the House Democratic Caucus yesterday that it needs to continue to “hold firm” in its opposition to President Bush’s effort to reform Social Security and advised the Democrats not to introduce their own plan, according to aides and lawmakers in the meeting.
Rubin, who has gained huge stature in the party for presiding over the national finances during the Clinton boom years, counseled congressional Democrats against engaging Republicans on specifics. He urged them instead to cast the debate in terms of principles, with opposition to deficit spending as their guiding conviction.
“Putting out a Democrat plan on Social Security would be a horrible mistake because right now it’s the president’s principles against our principles,” Rubin said, according to a Democratic leadership aide.
Rubin said that Social Security ranks third behind deficit reduction and Medicare reform as the most important economic policy issue facing the country. He also warned his fellow Democrats that they would need to work in a bipartisan manner with Republicans to address Medicare’s deep problems.
Last week, after months during which Democrats have made headway criticizing Bush’s proposal to create private accounts but have not put forward an alternative, Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla) broke ranks with his colleagues by introducing the first Democratic proposal on the long-term solvency of Social Security. Wexler, who earned the ire of Democratic strategists, did not attend yesterday’s caucus.
[In addition to] no more deficit spending and no to the president’s Social Security plan, Rubin also told the Democrats that they have reason to be optimistic about the future but there are challenges that they must meet, including healthcare, energy, education and the nation’s yawning fiscal deficits.
(5-26-05, The Hill.)
Rubin, who has gained huge stature in the party for presiding over the national finances during the Clinton boom years, counseled congressional Democrats against engaging Republicans on specifics. He urged them instead to cast the debate in terms of principles, with opposition to deficit spending as their guiding conviction.
“Putting out a Democrat plan on Social Security would be a horrible mistake because right now it’s the president’s principles against our principles,” Rubin said, according to a Democratic leadership aide.
Rubin said that Social Security ranks third behind deficit reduction and Medicare reform as the most important economic policy issue facing the country. He also warned his fellow Democrats that they would need to work in a bipartisan manner with Republicans to address Medicare’s deep problems.
Last week, after months during which Democrats have made headway criticizing Bush’s proposal to create private accounts but have not put forward an alternative, Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla) broke ranks with his colleagues by introducing the first Democratic proposal on the long-term solvency of Social Security. Wexler, who earned the ire of Democratic strategists, did not attend yesterday’s caucus.
[In addition to] no more deficit spending and no to the president’s Social Security plan, Rubin also told the Democrats that they have reason to be optimistic about the future but there are challenges that they must meet, including healthcare, energy, education and the nation’s yawning fiscal deficits.
(5-26-05, The Hill.)
posted by Sid Cottingham | 5:36 AM
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