Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush faced renewed questions this week on the 80th birthday of Social Security about his exact policies on the program. Bush has been characterized in the media as supporting “privatization” of the program (a term often favored by critics).
Such reform ideas — to allow those who pay into Social Security to opt out of the traditional government program and invest their retirement savings in private accounts — have been bounced around among public policy thinkers for decades, in order to stave off what is seen an impending fiscal crisis for the program.
President George W. Bush attempted such a plan as recently as 2005. Bush campaigned on the issue in 2000, explicitly campaigning with his brother Jeb on the issue in Florida, home to the nation’s largest elder population. George W. Bush of course later famously won that state by a narrow margin.
Jeb supported the 2005 plan George W. Bush introduced to Congress, but it faced enormous Democratic opposition and dissension in the Republican ranks, and was scuttled. Ten years later, some commentators think that is a shame, and that a future Social Security crisis still very much looms.
Jeb Bush was asked yesterday if he still supports his brother’s plan. He answered: “Do I support my brother’s plan? I don’t.”
He continued: “It would have made sense back then; now we’re way beyond that. What we need to do is reform Social Security to preserve it and protect it for those that already have it and reform it in the logical ways where there’s broad bipartisan consensus.”
The Bush campaign was reached for further comment, and twice asked if the former governor supports private Social Security accounts now of any kind. The campaign twice declined to answer — saying that Bush will present a formal plan for the program in the fall. The campaign did reiterate Bush’s support for raising the retirement age, and explicitly backed means testing— limiting or culling the amount received by the wealthy.
“Governor Bush currently supports reforming the social security system. He has suggested gradually increasing the retirement age and means testing for those who are not at or nearing retirement. He will have a comprehensive plan on this in the fall,” said Bush spokesman Tim Miller, reached by email.
Bush has also been quick to pivot from calling Social Security an “entitlement” on the campaign trail.
Asked about Social Security as an entitlement in a New Hampshire town hall earlier this summer, Bush responded: “I appreciate the question because it relates to, not that Social Security is an entitlement — I’ve learned that from town hall meetings — it’s a supplemental retirement system that’s not actuarially sound, how about that?”
He added: “And certainly Medicaid and Medicare are entitlements.”
Miller reiterated: “Governor Bush refers to social security as a supplemental retirement system because people paid into it.”
Bush continued calling for action: “The contingent liabilities are clear. We can ignore it as we’ve done now — my brother tried, got totally wiped out, both Republicans and Democrats wanted nothing to do with it,” adding, “the next president going to have to try again.”
What is unclear is what that means.
