Liberal Advocacy Group Getting Personal in Fight Over Social Security -- GOPUSA

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Liberal Advocacy Group Getting Personal in Fight Over Social Security
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Morning Editor
February 25, 2005

(CNSNews.com) -- Democrats are marching in lockstep against President Bush's Social Security reform plan, with many rejecting even the suggestion that Social Security faces a looming crisis. And now the fight is getting personal.

A liberal advocacy group is questioning a Republican lawmaker's integrity for supporting personal retirement accounts when he has received campaign contributions from the securities and banking industries.

The Campaign for America's Future, a George Soros-funded disseminator of the liberal agenda, is running advertisements in Rep. Jim McCrery's Louisiana district, highlighting his "corrupting ties to Wall Street."

McCrery, a Republican, chairs the House subcommittee on Social Security, and he supports the idea of letting younger workers use some of their payroll taxes to invest in "personal" or "private" accounts, if that's what they want to do.

In a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, the Campaign for America's Future described Rep. McCrery as "an emblem of the increased corruption in Congress" because of his "ties to securities and commercial banking industries."

The Campaign for America's Future says Rep. McCrery has accepted more than $200,000 in the last four years from banking and securities companies "that stand to benefit from the president's Social Security privatization plan."

Therefore, the group said, McCrery is "compromised" as chairman of the Social Security Subcommittee.

The first anti-McCrery ads will run Thursday and Sunday in the Shreveport Times and Shreveport Sun; the Campaign for America's Future said it also is raising money for broadcast ads.

In a statement, the Republican National Committee said the "baseless attacks" from the Campaign for America's Future "sound like more angry rhetoric from the Michael Moore wing of the Democratic Party.

"Such hypocritical misrepresentations are an effort to forward their special interest agenda rather than be candid with the public about the need to fix Social Security," said RNC Press Secretary Tracey Schmitt.

In a statement released by his office and carried in the Shreveport Times, McCrery's said he intends to preserve Social Security as the financial safety net for elderly Americans.

"But to stick our heads in the sand and proclaim there is no problem with how Social Security is financed is short-sighted and threatens the future of the program and, indeed, our nation. Despite the pitiful attack campaign against me being waged by Campaign for America's Future, I will not be deterred in my effort to help President Bush do what is right for our country -- reform Social Security to make it and our seniors more secure and our nation more prosperous for everyone."

The Campaign for America's Future notes that Rep. McCrery has been "comfortably re-elected" since he first entered Congress in 1988. The Campaign also noted that McCrery "has worked with prominent Washington Republicans for years, drafting their most controversial policies."

On its website, the Campaign for America's Future says its mission is to "defeat the reckless policies of the Right-wingers and build an enduring progressive majority to lead this country forward again."

Legislative victories for President Bush -- especially on Social Security -- do not mesh with the Campaign's goal of political ascendancy for the liberal agenda.

In its effort to squash the notion of private accounts that individuals would own, the Campaign for America's Future has joined other liberal groups in organizing rallies and press conferences against President Bush's Social Security reform plan. It made sure nay-sayers were on hand to greet President Bush when he took his Social Security reform plan on the road last month.

Roger Hickey, a co-director of the Campaign for America's Future, has advanced his own plan for shoring up Social Security. He wants to preserve it as it is, with special protections for low-income workers.

Although tax increases may be part of Hickey's plan, a "statement of principles" -- by Hickey and other liberals -- merely says, "We should save Social Security first, instead of using budget surpluses to pay for tax cuts."