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Santorum DeMint and Americans Against the Raid in CQ
November 11th 11:13:01 AM
The action of the last few days is continuing to be reported on. Here's the latest CQ daily report complete with a mention of Americans Against the Raid.
Plans to Try to Bring Social Security Bills to Senate Floor Derailed
by Defense Debate
By Alex Wayne, CQ Staff
Two Republican senators who were expected to try to pass Social
Security legislation Thursday afternoon found their effort delayed by extended debate on the defense authorization bill.
On Nov. 9, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist agreed to let Sens. Rick Santorum, R-Penn., and Jim DeMint, R-S.C., attempt to raise what one
aide described as "two Social Security reforms" on the Senate floor. The planned timing for their action was unclear, but two GOP aides said Santorum and DeMint would likely make their move on the afternoon of Nov. 10.
They did not, but a GOP leadership aide said they would probably get
another chance this week. Aides to Santorum and DeMint had refused to confirm any timetable.
Santorum and DeMint have been lobbying GOP leaders for weeks to let
them bring two Social Security bills directly to the floor, without
committee action.
Read on...
The first bill (S 1302) would create individual investment accounts
from Social Security’s surplus. The second (S 1750) would guarantee
people older than 55 all of the Social Security benefits they are
promised under current law, in the hope that seniors would then not
object to an overhaul of the program.
Several conservative interest groups on Nov. 10 launched a Web site,
Americans Against the Raid, to support Santorum's and DeMint's
bills.
"We thank Sens. DeMint and Santorum for taking the lead to advance
these principles of reform," a petition posted at the Web site
reads. "Together, these are great first steps on the road to
strengthening Social Security."
Neither bill would address Social Security's projected future
financial problems, but some Republicans have depicted them as
controversy-free first steps toward a more comprehensive overhaul of
the program.
But in talking points distributed by Senate Minority Leader Harry
Reid’s office on Thursday, Democrats criticized both bills.
The individual accounts bill, Democrats say, is "simply another bill
to privatize Social Security" and would lead to cuts in guaranteed
benefits and increased debt. They called the bill guaranteeing
benefits "a complete sham."
Democrats are expected to block Santorum and DeMint from calling up
any bill. It is not clear how Republicans would proceed at that point.
Business lobbyists, who Santorum and DeMint have recruited to support their effort, say they would like to see a substantive debate on Social Security on the floor of the Senate before lawmakers adjourn
for the year. But unlike DeMint and Santorum, who would like to paint Democrats as obstructing their effort, lobbyists would prefer that
the debate not end in a vote, which would probably only leave hard
feelings between the two sides going into 2006.
"Absent a serious debate, I'm not sure forcing a vote is
necessarily constructive," said Jade West, senior vice president for
the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, which is part of a business coalition that supports overhauling Social Security.
"Dismissal of debate on Social Security as irrelevant and unimportant does the country a real disservice."
Posted by Chris Schrimpf
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