Social Security May Cost Pa. Sen. Santorum His Job.
Social Security May Cost Santorum His Job.
Democrats Target Pennsylvania Senator OverHis Longtime Support for Private Accounts
Pennsylvania is second only to Florida in its large proportion of senior citizens. "And all the rich ones have moved to Florida," says an aide to one of the state's senators, Rick Santorum.
In other words, many Pennsylvanians don't simply like Social Security, they need it, or know someone who does. So as President Bush campaigns to remake the popular program, no Republican facing re-election next year has a bigger bull's-eye on his back for Democrats than Mr. Santorum. Despite hailing from a state that last year went for Democrat John Kerry, Mr. Santorum, the Senate Republicans' third-ranking leader and a nationally recognized conservative with White House ambitions, has emerged as the president's biggest backer on Social Security.
Mr. Bush was still governor of Texas when Mr. Santorum, in 1999, proposed the idea the president now promotes: Allowing workers to direct some of their Social Security payroll taxes into personal-retirement accounts, instead of to the government to pay current benefits for retirees, survivors and the disabled. Proponents hope that workers can earn higher returns by investing in a limited range of stocks, receive less from Social Security when they retire, and still come out ahead.
Mr. Santorum, known for his antiabortion and right-to-life stands, was at the center of the Schiavo story, even stopping by the brain-damaged woman's hospice during a previously planned fund-raising trip to Florida.
(Excerpts from 5-12-05 The Wall Street Journal.)
Democrats Target Pennsylvania Senator OverHis Longtime Support for Private Accounts
Pennsylvania is second only to Florida in its large proportion of senior citizens. "And all the rich ones have moved to Florida," says an aide to one of the state's senators, Rick Santorum.
In other words, many Pennsylvanians don't simply like Social Security, they need it, or know someone who does. So as President Bush campaigns to remake the popular program, no Republican facing re-election next year has a bigger bull's-eye on his back for Democrats than Mr. Santorum. Despite hailing from a state that last year went for Democrat John Kerry, Mr. Santorum, the Senate Republicans' third-ranking leader and a nationally recognized conservative with White House ambitions, has emerged as the president's biggest backer on Social Security.
Mr. Bush was still governor of Texas when Mr. Santorum, in 1999, proposed the idea the president now promotes: Allowing workers to direct some of their Social Security payroll taxes into personal-retirement accounts, instead of to the government to pay current benefits for retirees, survivors and the disabled. Proponents hope that workers can earn higher returns by investing in a limited range of stocks, receive less from Social Security when they retire, and still come out ahead.
Mr. Santorum, known for his antiabortion and right-to-life stands, was at the center of the Schiavo story, even stopping by the brain-damaged woman's hospice during a previously planned fund-raising trip to Florida.
(Excerpts from 5-12-05 The Wall Street Journal.)
posted by Sid Cottingham | 5:10 AM
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