Opinion Editorial | |
| Wednesday, December 30, 1998 | |
Social Security Reform Could Be Clinton's Legacy |
One of the biggest problems that Republicans in Congress have had in dealing with President Bill Clinton for the last four years has been the lack of a significant Clinton agenda. It has meant that Republicans really haven't had any Clinton-backed legislation they could hold hostage and trade for support of their initiatives. This year, however, they may finally get their chance. In contrast to Clinton, President Ronald Reagan had an ambitious legislative program that he always had to work hard to get through a hostile Congress. And often, he had to acquiesce and support Democratic programs and initiatives that did not deserve enactment. But Reagan signed them into law in order to get support for the parts of his program, such as increasing defense spending, that he thought were more important than blocking bad, but less important, Democratic proposals. Looking back over six years, it is hard to see anything that Clinton really wanted from Congress after his first year. He did want his budget package and health care legislation in 1993. But the former really was a continuation of Republican fiscal policy, even though it passed without a single Republican vote, while the latter was defeated by a Democratically-controlled Congress. Since then, the only major legislation Clinton has asked for has been fast-track trade authority. Yet in truth he has never lifted a finger to actually push it through the Congress. One may argue that there really hasn't been that much that needed to be done legislatively the last six years. The economy has performed better than anyone expected, with millions of Americans growing rich in the booming stock market and inflation and unemployment both at undreamed of lows. Thus the lack of a meaningful Clinton agenda should be no cause for concern. Better a do-nothing president than one whose inclinations push him toward programs detrimental to the economy. But still there are things that need to be done -- taxes are far too high and need to be cut, our military has been hollowed-out and is in dire need of rebuilding, and the Social Security and Medicare systems are in desperate need of reform, to name a few. Nevertheless, a necessary consequence of having a do-nothing president has been a do-little Congress. In short, much of the Republicans' failure to press ahead with their agenda is a direct result of Clinton's unwillingness to press ahead with his. If he pushes ahead on something he really wants, it will give Republicans a chance to cut deals and salvage at least something of their agenda before the 2000 elections. Although we have heard forever about Clinton's desire to leave a legacy, without ever seeing any action, this year may finally be different. He really is down to the wire now and knows he needs something to offset the words "second president ever to be impeached" that inevitably will follow his encyclopedia entries. Moreover, the tightness of the budget caps means Clinton must cut some deal with Congress on use of the budget surplus lest he literally have nothing whatsoever to put forward in the budget for his last full year in office. Clearly, Social Security is the one big area where the possibility of a breakthrough exists. Since he has put himself into the box of saying it must be "saved" before anything else is done with the surplus, Clinton has a strong incentive to work with Republicans in this area and open the system to some degree of privatization. It would leave a legacy far better than the one he has now. Source: Bruce Bartlett, senior fellow, National Center for Policy Analysis, December 30, 1998. Home | Support Us | All Issues | Social Security Debate Central | Contact Us |