BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : APRIL 3, 2000 ISSUE
GOVERNMENT Bush's Man with a Plan (Details Later) Lawrence B. Lindsey, chief economic adviser to candidate George W. Bush, spoke with Senior Writer Rich Miller on Mar. 17 about Social Security reform, Bush-style. Q: George W. Bush says Social Security reform is a top priority. Really? A: He is going to spend the political capital to knock heads together to get a solution. That contrasts sharply with Vice-President Gore's head-in-the-sand approach. Q: What principles will guide Bush's Social Security overhaul? A: The key one is that there will be no reduction in benefits for current retirees or people nearing retirement. Period. [He also favors] voluntary personal accounts. The reason Social Security is a problem is that we have a pay-as-you-go system. As soon as the money goes in, it flows out in the form of benefits. What we need is a system where there is a buildup in dividends and interest, the way private pension accounts work. Q: Why won't Bush provide more details? A: To get tough compromises, you need to force people to move from well-established positions. If you lay down hard-and-fast rules first, you can't do that. Clinton could have solved this problem any time in the last eight years, but he chose not to pay the political capital. Bush is different. Q: The Social Security actuaries are a gloomy bunch--maybe too gloomy--when it comes to the fund's future. If you're such big optimists on the tax and growth side, why are you such pessimists on Social Security? A: I don't think it's a crisis. We're not the ones who are gloomy. We're just reading what the actuaries say. Q: Might Bush empanel another Social Security commission of the type once headed by Alan Greenspan? A: We have had something like a commission for half of the years since World War II.... So, no commission.... This is brass-tacks time. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS Suddenly, Bush Is Mr. Social Security TABLE: A Touch of McCain? Bush's Man with a Plan (Details Later) INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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