Media Center

Today, Congressman David Scott spoke out against the Bush Administration's campaign to privatize Social Security and urged young adults and African-Americans to scrutinize the touted benefits of president’s plan carefully. Congressman Scott formally opposed President Bush’s social security scheme from the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday.

“President Bush insists that he is undertaking this drastic dismantling of Social Security for the good of our young people. He wants Americans to believe that private accounts are a great deal and a good deal for those under age 55. But the President is wrong. The President claims he will not cut benefits for current retirees to fund his proposal. He claims he will not raise payroll taxes. Well, the only thing left is to borrow the money, thereby increasing the deficit, a deficit that will have to be paid, of course, you guessed it, by younger workers, the very group that the President says he is trying to help,” Scott said.

Congressman Scott also condemned President Bush’s use of the lower life expectancy of African-Americans in order to sell his Social Security privatization plan to blacks. In recent weeks, the president has repeatedly asserted that blacks are short-changed because they are more likely than whites to die before receiving their fair share of retirement benefits.

“Mr. Bush's use of this false argument is doubly shameful. I do believe he is getting some bad advice on this, because I know the President, and I know that he is a decent person. But inadvertently, when he makes the claim that Social Security is bad for black people because they die younger, he is exploiting the high death rates in childhood and young adulthood to promote this privatization plan instead of trying to remove the deep inequalities that remain in our society,” Scott said.

“We know that when African American men make it to age 65, they can expect to live and collect the same benefits for an additional 14 or 15 years, almost equal to the 16 years for white males. So, when the President makes this kind of statement, it is sort of like cutting the legs out from under a man and then condemning him for being disabled.”