Kerry: Greenspan Warning Is Wake-Up Call
Friday, August 27, 2004
By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&u=/ap/20040828/ap_on_el_pr/kerry&printer=1
SAN FRANCISCO - Democrat John Kerry's presidential campaign said Friday
that Federal
Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's warning of a looming crisis for Social
Security and
Medicare should be a wake-up call that President Bush's economic policies
have failed.
Kerry spokeswoman Allison Dobson said Bush has driven up deficits that
have put Social
Security in danger.
"Instead of making tough choices, George Bush squandered the budget
surplus on tax breaks
for the wealthiest Americans that dug us deep into deficits and cost
taxpayers more than
three times as much as it would have taken to save Social Security for
generations to
come," Dobson said as Kerry campaigned for votes and dollars in the Bay
Area.
Earlier in the day, Greenspan said during a speech in Jackson, Wyo., that
the government
can not deliver on its benefit promises even under the most optimistic
economic
assumptions on growth and productivity. He urged Congress to quickly trim
Social Security
and Medicare benefits for the baby boom generation.
Kerry has rejected the idea of cutting benefits. Kerry's position is that
he can grow the
economy, and that will pay for the increasing number of retirees.
"I guarantee you the first best thing to do with Social Security is to put
America back to
work in better paying jobs than the ones that went overseas," Kerry said
at a town hall
meeting Friday evening in Everett, Wash.
Bush favors giving younger workers the option of putting part of their
payroll tax into
personal retirement accounts. Kerry opposes the plan for partial
privatization.
Kerry is planning to take time off from campaigning next week during the
Republican
National Convention at his family home on Nantucket. But with election day
approaching, he
had a full day of events Friday with an eye on the calendar.
"Sixty-seven days," Kerry said in Everett. "There are less days between
now and the
election than there are between the election and the inauguration. This
clock is ticking."
Earlier, Kerry spoke to voters at a town hall meeting at a high school
gymnasium in Daly
City, Calif. He said Bush has neglected the middle class and he promised
to curb credit
card fees and protect home buyers and military families from unfair
lending practices.
Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said, "John Kerry's campaign of
pessimism is intent
on talking down our economy and ignores the challenges and progress we
have made."
Kerry also spoke at a luncheon fund-raiser in San Francisco that brought
in $3 million for
the Democratic presidential fund. He was attending a Friday night
fund-raiser in Seattle
expected to raise another $1.5 million, said his spokesman David Wade.
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