Latinos for A Secure Retirement Ask President Bush to Pull Private Accounts from Discussion on Social Security Reform

As the 60 day mark of President Bush’s effort to promote private accounts as the reform plan for Social Security quickly approaches, the broad-based coalition Latinos for a Secure Retirement (LSR) ask the president to re-consider his proposal. After holding a series of town halls and seminars in small towns, rural areas, and large cities across the United States, LSR is convinced that Latinos are very concerned about the privatization of Social Security and find it to be a risky proposal that is against their interests.

Hispanics with an awareness of the President’s plan oppose it by a more than two-to-one margin. In a recent telephone poll conducted by Bendixen & Associates, 71 percent of 880 registered voters that were interviewed knew something of the President’s plan. Of that 71 percent, 59 percent reported that they believed it was a “bad idea.”

“President Bush needs to understand that Latinos are paying attention and they increasingly don’t like what they are hearing,” said ----. “The Bush proposal is not workable for Hispanics. Latinas in particular do not support tampering with Social Security. We need to look at ways of strengthening its solvency, not creating risky investments.”

The members of LSR urge the Bush Administration to restore the actuarial balance of the Social Security Trust Fund in much the same way as President Ronald Reagan did in 1983 when Social Security was indeed suffering from a very real crisis. The Reagan team was able to overcome the critical point with adequate planning and fiscal restructuring because they had a historic commitment to long-run, 75 year balance.

Latinos for a Secure Retirement will continue holding town hall meetings around the country over the next months to ensure that Latinos understand the significance of private accounts and their impact on Latino families. LSR has scheduled more than 15 town halls in April, May and June 2005. For more information about Latinos for A Secure Retirement and town hall sites, contact Artie Blanco, National Campaign Coordinator at blanco@americansforsocialsecurity.com.