U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee - Larry E. Craig, Chairman - Jade West, Staff Director
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June 14, 1999

RPC Talking Points

Social Security Lockbox and the Medicare Loophole

President Clinton and his Democrat allies in Congress seem to be constitutionally opposed to attempts to restrain them from spending. No doubt this is why they continue to oppose any plan to save Social Security that locks up those funds for Social Security alone.

  • The Dodge: Medicare is the Democrats' latest loophole. They are using it to hide their opposition to the first step toward real Social Security reform. Instead of a tight Social Security "lockbox," Clinton and company want a broad Medicare "loophole" to raid Social Security for new spending programs.

  • The Deceit: Not only is Clinton not serious about saving Social Security, he clearly is not serious about Medicare reform either. If he were, he would not have stopped real reform efforts offered by the bipartisan Medicare Reform Commission -- which offered a comprehensive Medicare reform plan that had the support of Democrat Senators Breaux and Kerrey.

  • If Clinton were serious about saving Medicare, he would not have proposed a number of ways to increase Medicare spending, while offering no real solution to its financial crisis. Instead, he raids Social Security to "give" Medicare $700 billion in a phony transfer scheme.

  • The Democrat Strategy: Clinton has certainly been consistent -- supporting spending not savings, and rhetoric not reform.

  • Clinton claims he wants to save the Social Security surplus -- yet his budget spends $158 billion of the surplus over the next five years.

  • Republican Game Plan: Republicans are equally determined -- Save Social Security's surplus now so it can be used to pay for reform.

  • Republicans want to give Clinton a lockbox, not a loophole.

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