Rhode Island's Republican senator says although he often disagrees with the president, "it's nothing personal."

09:56 AM EST on Monday, March 14, 2005

BY MIKE STANTON
Journal Staff Writer

Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee took the national stage yesterday to say that President Bush has yet to make the case for a dramatic overhaul of Social Security when less drastic measures would do.

AP photo

Sen. Lincoln Chafee, on Meet the Press yesterday, is hoping a compromise can be reached on Social Security.

Appearing on NBC's Meet the Press, the moderate Republican from Rhode Island told host Tim Russert that his constituents aren't buying the president's proposal to create personal retirement accounts tied to the stock market.

"Coming from a state with a high elderly population . . . I'm hearing from my seniors that the sell isn't being made yet on personal accounts," said Chafee, who noted President Bush's recent barnstorming around the country to push private accounts. "We have to do something about Social Security. Baby-boomers are retiring. But selling these personal accounts, it's a tough sell. I'm hearing it from my elderly constituents and even the younger ones.

"They have some reservations about the cost up front, and also the risk."

Chafee, a member of the Senate Centrist Coalition, comprised of moderate Democrats and Republicans, argued that less drastic approaches are available to address the projected insolvency of the Social Security fund, most notably raising the cap on the Social Security tax and indexing future cost-of-living increases to inflation.

Asked about the insistence by some Democrats that President Bush must take private accounts off the table before they will negotiate on Social Security, Chafee said that he and other members of the Centrist Coalition have pledged to keep an open mind.

Currently, he noted, people are assessed a Social Security tax of 12 percent on their first $90,000 of income. Chafee mentioned various proposals to raise that cap -- other senators have suggested $140,000 or $200,000, or imposing a lower tax of, say, 3 percent or 4 percent for income in excess of $90,000.

"If [golfer] Tiger Woods is making $10 million a year, he's only paying that 12 percent Social Security tax on that first $90,000," said Chafee.

Another proposal, to index Social Security increases to inflation, would "save a lot of money," said Chafee, by slowing cost-of-living increases that are currently rising faster than inflation. Safeguards to protect lower-income Americans would also be added under such a plan, he said.

In an interview afterward, Chafee added that, "Seventy percent of the problem could be solved by indexing."

"I've seen a lot of problems where the solutions aren't as easy as this one," he said.

However, when Russert turned from the various proposals to fix Social Security to the incendiary politics surrounding the topic, Chafee acknowledged the difficulties.

"It does seem we're at loggerheads over this, but there's still weeks and months ahead," he said.

Later, when Russert pointed out that House Republican leaders flatly oppose indexing, which they would consider a tax increase, Chafee replied: "It's a shame if we come to that point [of failing to reach a compromise], because the sooner we do something the better it is. The baby-boomers start to retire in 2011, the system starts to show insolvency in 2018 . . . If we can get together, address it earlier, the better for our constituents."

Chafee made his first national appearance on Social Security along with Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., a fellow Centrist Coalition member. The two men, along with Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, R-S.C., are viewed as potential centrist brokers to any compromise on Social Security.

Russert also asked Chafee about his past opposition to President Bush, including his controversial decision not to vote for the president last November but to write in Mr. Bush's father's name instead.

"On issues that I care deeply about -- the environment, Roe v. Wade, the war in Iraq with no weapons of mass destruction, the tax cuts that are now leading to deficits -- I've got some deep issues with the president," said Chafee. "But it's nothing personal and so as a Republican I support the Republican Party, but I did write in another Republican [for president]."

Russert pressed Chafee about whether he might consider becoming a Democrat in the future.

"We don't want to ever say never, but at the same point I'm proud to be a Republican, I'm working hard for my Republican Party in Rhode Island, we've got a good governor, Governor Carcieri, a Republican in Rhode Island, a good team we're trying to get elected there, so my full intention is to stay a Republican."

"And run for reelection in the Senate as a Republican [in 2006]?" Russert said.

"Exactly, yes."

Later, in an interview, Chafee said that he has been attending meetings every Tuesday since January of the Centrist Coalition, to discuss Social Security. One visitor has been the president's top economic adviser, Allan Hubbard.

In private conversations, Chafee said, including one on Friday in anticipation of his appearance on Meet the Press, Hubbard has been "intrigued" by the indexing proposal.

But Hubbard also continued to urge Chafee to "keep an open mind" on private accounts.

Mike Stanton can be reached at 277-7724, or mstanton [at] projo.com