Pelosi repeated the "no dice" phrase multiple times at a news conference on Thursday. She also condemned the "poison pill of privatization" and announced that Democrat lawmakers would testify against personal accounts for younger workers before a House subcommittee on Social Security:
"In order to share some of the concerns Democrats have, our Members will be showing up in wonderful numbers and beautiful diversity at the hearing today (Thursday)," Pelosi said.
Democrats say President Bush's plan to let younger workers divert some of their payroll taxes into private or personal accounts would slash benefits for millions of senior citizens, disabled Americans, and dependents.
Pelosi accused President Bush of creating a crisis and manufacturing an issue. She said he would he would turn a guaranteed benefit into a guaranteed gamble. "And to that, the Democrats and American people say: 'Mr. President, no dice!'"
Pelosi said the creation of private accounts would be very expensive and increase the deficit. She said the president will cut benefits to pay for his plan.
"I join my colleague, Mr. Rangel, the ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, when we say: 'Remove the poison pill of privatization, and Democrats will come to the table with our ideas, with our commitment, and with our cooperation to address the problem that exists, not a crisis, but the problem that exists in Social Security down the road,' Pelosi said.
In another press release issued Thursday, Pelosi said Democrats "have a better way" to strengthen Social Security. In a message to the American people, she said, "We are working to strengthen Social Security without slashing middle-class benefits or increasing the national debt," but offered no details.
President Bush has urged Democrats to come forward with their ideas, but with the exception of one or two lawmakers, Democrats are heeding the party line to stay mum on Social Security.
In a speech this week, President Bush said he believes it's the president's job to confront problems rather than pass them on to future generations: "And, folks, we've got a problem when it comes to Social Security," he told a gathering in New York on Tuesday.
President Bush says his plan does not have any effect on people born before 1950. He suggested that Democrats are scaring today's senior citizens into thinking that their benefits will change: No, they won't, Bush said: "The system has plenty of money in it to make sure you get your check."
President Bush said he will consider all ideas, except for a hike in the payroll tax. And he said the longer lawmakers wait to do something, the worse it will be for younger workers, who will face higher payroll taxes and/or benefit cuts.
"It's the younger folks that need to be paying attention to what I'm talking about," President Bush said on Tuesday.
In addition to creating voluntary personal savings accounts, President Bush also supports the idea of progressive indexing:
For low-income workers, the formula for calculating benefit increases would not change. Those increases would still be tied to wages. Low-income workers would get higher benefits than they would under the current system.
Higher income workers would see a change: their benefit increases would be tied to the rate of inflation, meaning benefits would not rise as fast. High earners would get less then they would get under the current system.
And for middle income workers, it depends: benefit increases would be tied to both wages and inflation.
President Bush says progressive indexing will permanently solve a "significant portion of the problem," and he said it makes sense for Congress to consider the idea.
The Republican National Committee, which has nicknamed Democrats "the party of no," is keeping tabs on how many days have elapsed since President Bush outlined his Social Security plan. Democrat leaders have said nothing but no since then, according to the RNC's "obstructionist forecast."
This week, Teamsters President James Hoffa was quoted as saying that Social Security is in big trouble, and he praised President Bush for trying to fix the problem.
Hoffa told the Gannett News Service that President Bush "should be given credit for the fact that he has initiated a debate regarding what we should do."
Hoffa expressed interest in working with Republicans on a bipartisan solution.
