Labor boss stumps for Bush reforms

Along neatly-stacked aisles, past 30-pound buckets of "Supreme Mayonnaise" and 40-pound boxes of bananas, U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao shook the hand of every worker she saw at Nicholas & Co., a Salt Lake-based food distribution company.

She looked them in the eye, asked them about their work and listened as they talked about the hours and the significance of the orange labels affixed to each of a seemingly endless sea of pallets.

Then, over a meal and some cookies, Chao talked Social Security.

She had accepted an invitation from Nicholas & Co. and the International Foodservice Distribution Association to speak at Nicholas' Wednesday "Lunch & Learn" lecture series, and she used the opportunity to stump for President George W. Bush's Social Security proposal.

"The president is very, very committed to ensuring that Social Security is strengthened for future generations," Chao said. "Social Security has been a safety net to American retirees, and we understand that. It is an important part of every person's retirement. So we want to make sure that it will be there for future generations to come."

In order to do that, the current system must be reformed, she said. If no changes are made, Social Security will be bankrupt by 2041. By 2017, the benefits paid out will exceed payroll taxes coming in.

"If nothing is done, the current system is unsustainable," Chao said. "If you're a worker aged 30 or younger, and nothing is done about Social Security now, by the time you retire, you'll see a 27 percent cut in your benefits. That's not good, and something has to be done to shore up Social Security right now."

For every year that reform is delayed, $600 billion will be added to the shortfall, Chao said, which will mean massive benefit cuts.

Chao emphasized three parts of Bush's plan:

• For Americans over the age of 55, nothing will change.

• Taxes will not be hiked to pay for Social Security.

• Younger workers would have the option to divert up to 4 percent of their payroll taxes to a conservative mix of stocks and bonds, which they would own and be able to bequeath, and which Chao said would build into a "much, much bigger nest egg than Social Security alone would currently provide."

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, accompanied Chao on an hour-long tour of the Nicholas & Co. distribution facility, and he echoed the administration's call for reform.