Gore pitches retirement savings plan to 'open doors' for families
June 20, 2000
Web posted at: 6:34 PM EDT (2234 GMT)
By Matt Smith/CNN
LEXINGTON, Kentucky (CNN) -- Vice President Al Gore formally announced his plan Tuesday for a tax-free, government-subsidized retirement savings plan with an appeal to low- and middle-income workers who want to save for future needs.
"Your savings account can open the door to your first house. It's the way a young couple can make that first tough down payment on a first home together," Gore told a rally in Kentucky on Tuesday. "Your savings account can swing open for your child wrought-iron gates that may have been closed to you and your parents."
Gore's plan would operate in a fashion similar to the 401(k) retirement programs offered by many private companies. The vice president said his plan would come "on top of the guaranteed foundation of Social Security" -- drawing a contrast with the partial privatization of Social Security promoted by his GOP rival, Texas Gov. George W. Bush.
Bush and his supporters had readied harsh critiques of the plan well before Gore's announcement. But Bush was facing critics of his own Tuesday as Texas prepared for another execution -- while the governor focused attention on voters in California, a state crucial to Democratic fortunes.
Promising to make the accounts "as easy as checking a box on your tax return," Gore said his plan could provide up to $400,000 for retirement over 35 years for working families.
"Never again should a hard-working family see the door slowly closing on their dream," he said.
"On behalf of those people -- not just the ones who think comfortably about their savings over Scotch at the club, looking out at the golf links, but also the ones who carefully try to make it all add up over a pressured half-hour lunch on the factory floor -- on behalf of those families, we will take the White House in November of this year."
Gore's plan would be open to families earning up to $100,000 a year. Couples with incomes of $30,000 or less would be able to invest $500 a year in the account and the government would provide a $1,500 tax credit.
For those earning between $30,000 and $60,000 annually, the government would provide $1,000 a year. For couples with incomes up to $100,000, the private contribution would be $1,500 and the government's share would be $500. Qualifying income brackets would be cut in half for individuals.
What happened to the 'risky' scheme?
Even before Tuesday's announcement, charges of hypocrisy were being issued from the Bush camp. Bush aides said Gore's plan mirrors their candidate's proposal to allow individuals to invest some of the payroll taxes that currently finance the Social Security retirement fund in securities.
After Bush announced his proposal, Gore repeatedly denounced it as "risky," arguing that Social Security should not be subject to the fluctuations of a volatile stock market.
"First the stock market was roulette and risky and the now the heat is on," Bush said during a campaign appearance in Vancouver, Washington, on Monday. "He changes positions. But what America wants is somebody who is going to stay steady when it comes to public policy, and that is the kind of leadership I will provide."
But Gore said Tuesday that his "Retirement Savings Plus" plan was "very different from what others have proposed."
"It does not come at the expense of Social Security. It come in addition to Social Security. We will protect Social Security," he said.
Doubts raised about both plans
Gore's proposal, when fully funded, would cost about $35 billion a year. Bush aides noted Tuesday that the Gore plan does nothing to shore up the Social Security Trust Fund, while the Cato Institute's Michael Tanner said low-income families couldn't afford to set the money aside to qualify.
"I don't think either one of them is really telling the whole story," Tanner said. "What Bush is saying is that if you eat your spinach, you'll be able to have some ice cream for dessert. Al Gore, on the other hand, just wants to pretend that the spinach doesn't exist."
Conservative groups have pushed for some kind of privatization of retirement plans for years. Others fear that Social Security will be unable to meet its obligations to baby boomers when they begin to retire.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, now a policy analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, said the dueling proposals show how much the political playing field has changed with respect to Social Security -- once nicknamed the "third rail" of American politics because no lawmaker would dare touch it for fear of election day reprisals.
"By the end of today, both presidential candidates will have taken steps of admitting that we have to have personal control of our retirement savings and then we have to move toward a new model to deal with the baby boomers and their children," Gingrich said.
Death penalty critics focus on Bush
Visiting Cupertino, California, on Tuesday, Bush pledged to offer $2.3 billion in initiatives to improve math and science education if elected. But with another execution just two days away back in Texas, death penalty politics overshadowed his attempt to focus on education.
Bush found himself heckled by death-penalty opponents in Palo Alto, California, on Monday. Protesters labeled Bush a "serial killer" -- he has presided over more than 130 executions in Texas as governor -- and urged him: "Don't kill another innocent man."
Texas is scheduled to put to death convicted murderer Gary Graham, 36, on Thursday, and each case that comes before Bush as governor stokes the issue.
Bush tried to avoid the topic Tuesday. But Monday, faced with questions from reporters during the trip west, he said, "This is what happens when you are a decision-maker. Sometimes it is going to be controversial."
Graham was convicted of killing a man during a 1981 grocery store robbery in Houston. His execution date comes amid growing concerns about the death penalty nationwide, though Bush has expressed confidence that all those executed in Texas during his administration were guilty.
Two jurors who convicted Graham told the ABC News program "Nightline" on Monday they are no longer sure Gary Graham is guilty. He was convicted largely on the testimony of one witness, and critics say his lawyer failed to present evidence that could have cleared him in the killing.
Bush did grant a 30-day reprieve to a convicted killer earlier this month to pursue DNA tests, an option not available for Graham. Graham received a reprieve from Bush's predecessor, Ann Richards, meaning his execution cannot be stayed again without action by the state Board of Pardons and Paroles.
The Texas governor dismissed the protests, saying: "The great thing about America is that people can express themselves." Demonstrations were also held outside the governor's home in Austin and in New York.
Bush is campaigning on the West Coast, a region usually considered Democratic territory. New polls show Gore leading Bush by more than 10 points in California, but both Bush and Green Party candidate Ralph Nader have made numerous appearances in the Golden State.
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