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Clinton, Obama Stand Apart On Fix For Social Security

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By MIKE GLOVER, The Associated Press

Published: November 12, 2007

WATERLOO, Iowa - Democrat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York marked Veterans Day by calling for new assistance programs, but said she would move more carefully than her rivals on dealing with looming shortfalls facing the Social Security system.

Her move came as rival Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois said he would lift the income ceiling on the Social Security tax. Currently, only the first $97,500 of a person's annual income is taxed; the cap is scheduled to rise to $102,000 next year.

Obama's proposal could include a gap or "doughnut hole" to shield middle-income earners from paying more in taxes, he said. He objected to benefit cuts or a higher retirement age.

Obama also invoked his friend, billionaire Warren Buffett, who Obama said has expressed concern that he pays less in Social Security taxes than anyone else in his office.

"And he has said, and I think a lot of us who have been fortunate are willing to pay a little bit more to make sure that a senior citizen who is struggling to deal with rising property taxes or rising heating bills, that they've got the coverage that they need," Obama said.

"I know it may sound good at first blush," said Clinton. "If you look at all the complexities of this, I think it's much smarter to say: Look, we're going to deal with the challenges by fiscal responsibility and we're going to use a bipartisan commission. And we're not going to do it by further burdening middle-class families."

In an interview Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," Obama said increasing the income ceiling would allow relatively well-off taxpayers such as himself to pay a little more to rescue the system. Clinton rejected that argument.

"If you lift the cap completely that would be a $1 trillion tax increase," Clinton told reporters after a Veterans Day event.

Clinton said she would initially end the practice of borrowing from the Social Security trust fund. She said more responsible fiscal practices could bolster the economy, which would in turn make the fund more healthy.

Clinton used Veterans Day to trot out a package of assistance programs for veterans, and to tout the endorsement she's gotten from a committee of more than 1,200 veterans.

Clinton's package would increase educational benefits, housing assistance and job training for veterans. Although veterans get preferences for government jobs, Clinton said she would expand that to contractors who work for the government.

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