Corzine On Social Security

What is Jon Corzine’s plan for Social Security in 2005? We couldn’t find one, but here’s a bit on the “Clinton-Corzine Plan” as Corzine liked to call it, back in 2000.

From Social Security This Week - May 29, 2000

The May 8 issue of Social Security This Week commented on the race for the Democratic nomination for the Senate in New Jersey, which pits former Governor Jim Florio against ex-Goldman Sachs financier Jon Corzine. Both candidates claim White House backing for their Social Security plans. Corzine favors the original Clinton administration plan for the government to invest a portion of workers payroll taxes in the stock market, while Florio adopts the “second edition” administration plan, touted by Vice President Gore, in which all forms of market investment are deemed too risky.

From The New York Times - May 12, 2000

Both former Gov. Jim Florio and Jon S. Corzine tried to appeal to the elderly, who are expected to make up a large segment of the Democrats who vote in the June 6 primary. In their heated remarks about ways to extend the solvency of Social Security, the candidates even disputed whether President Clinton had turned away from his own plan to invest part of the Social Security trust fund in the stock market.

Mr. Corzine, whose staff has described the proposal as the "Clinton-Corzine Social Security Plan," said the plan would yield greater returns than investing in government bonds, and ensure the system's viability for future generations.

From Social Security This Week - May 8, 2000

Vice President Gore, in his recent battle with George W. Bush, now claims that the administration did not in fact ever propose such investment.

How did Corzine react to these statements? “We’re certainly surprised, but not nearly as much as Bill Clinton must be,” said one Corzine aide.” In fact, as the Times reveals, Mr. Clinton’s spokesman said earlier this month that the president still supported the concept.

Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.), another New Democrat, says, “In spite of the political rhetoric” by Gore, “this is the progressive approach. It would be irresponsible not to do it.”

In a May 10 column in the Albany Times Union, Matt Miller writes that “Kerrey, a longtime leader on entitlement reform, told me that if Gore moves from vague language about ‘secret plans’ and ‘risky schemes’ to poison the well for honest talk about Social Security’s long-term woes, he’ll ‘join the debate’ to hail Bush’s leadership and slam Gore’s irresponsibility.”

We guess Senator Corzine’s plan for Social Security is to “poison the well for honest talk about Social Security’s long-term woes” - Mr. Corzine’s “Second Edition Plan.”