Senator Reid and Social Security

Cal Thomas | Syndicated columnist | Published: Apr 27, 2005

Senator Reid and Social Security

April 29, 2005

The republican national committee has discovered a bill that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid sponsored when he was a member of the house more than 20 years ago.

The bill would have kept members of Congress out of the Social Security program.

Reid, of course, has been a staunch opponent of President Bush's attempt to reform Social Security and include optional private accounts.

Republicans say the 1983 Reid bill counters his claim today that Social Security is the "most successful program in the history of the world."


Prior to the mandate for all members of Congress to participate in Social Security, congressmen and senators enjoyed a generous pension program that exempted them from the tax.

Congress still gives itself perks it denies to the rest of us.

Democrats fear losing government's grip and votes if they allow more independence in retirement programs.

Senator Reid and other democrats claimed during the Clinton administration that Social Security needed reform.

Now they say the opposite under a republican president.

What does that tell you?

I'm Cal Thomas in Washington.


Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C. Watch his television show, After Hours with Cal Thomas, on the Fox News Channel, Saturdays at 11 p.m. Eastern Time.

Senator Reid and Social Security