Dems & GOPers to Watch on SS Privatization

In pushing the Democrats to be unified against the President's Social Security privatization scheme, make sure to see the 20 Democrats who voted against this bill in 2001. This was a vote on the Filner Amendment, which I helped write while working on the Appropriations Committee. As Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) noted in intoducing the amendment, his legislation would "prevent any funding being used for the purpose of implementing a Social Security privatization plan amendment." In other words, it would block any Social Security privatization plan.

These 20 Democrats who voted against the amendment are some of the key ones to worry about capitulating to the GOP. Among them is Rep. Allen Boyd (D-FL), who already announced he would be the "chief sponsor" of Social Security privatization legislation.

For more, see Rep. Filner's special site on his amendment.

On the GOP side, there are new cracks in the pro-privatization ranks. Bloomberg reports "deficit concerns have sparked some resistance" to the Bush privatization scheme from people like Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Charles Grassley (R-IA). The Providence Journal reports Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) indicated he felt "President Bush's plans to revamp and privatize Social Security are ill-timed and will be difficult to support in light of the country's burgeoning deficit and costly war in Iraq."