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June 17, 1999

Democrats Stop Vote on Social Security Lockbox for Fourth Time

Ball Four: Democrats Tell Seniors to Take a Walk

Yesterday the Senate once again tried and failed to take up Social Security lockbox legislation. This particular version, H.R. 1259, passed the House with overwhelming support -- 416-12. Yet Senate Democrats blocked a vote on Social Security lockbox legislation for the fourth time.

While Senate Republicans, led by Senators Abraham, Domenici, and Ashcroft, have been trying to hit a home run for America's seniors, Senate Democrats have refused to allow them to even take a swing at passing lockbox protection that would preserve the Social Security surplus for reforming Social Security. Senate Democrats, in contrast to their Democrat colleagues in the House, can't seem to find the plate at all. Instead of throwing strikes, they are throwing wild excuses.

Their Hidden Agenda

The inescapable fact is that Senate Democrats haven't even been trying to throw strikes on this issue. Senate Democrats are only interested in slowing down the process and in distracting attention from the main point: that Senate Democrats, in contrast to their own colleagues in the House, want to insure the continued use of the Social Security surplus for their own spending purposes. So too does President Clinton, whose own latest budget proposed spending $158 billion of the Social Security surplus over the next five years.

That's four attempts to protect Social Security and four failures because Senate Democrats have refused to allow a vote. In baseball, that's called a "walk" and that's what Senate Democrats are evidently telling America's seniors to take.

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