http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/05/11/national/w163403D69.DTLPresident Bush's preferred approach for Social Security would mean smaller survivor benefits for middle and upper-income children and widows than they are now promised, a top administration official said Wednesday.
At the same time, Bush envisions no changes in the benefit system for the disabled, said Allan Hubbard, chairman of the National Economic Council and the administration's point man on Social Security.
In addition to retirees, Social Security provides benefits to the disabled as well as to children under 18 who have lost a working parent. Surviving spouses can also qualify for a benefit until the child turns 16.
"The president is committed to making sure the disabled are taken care of just as they've been promised they'd be taken care of," Hubbard said in an interview with The Associated Press in his White House office. Bush also believes the approach he's talked about "will provide adequate and reasonable benefits for beneficiaries, which includes survivors, widows and the retirees," he said.
Other administration officials at the interview were more specific in saying the changes Bush has in mind would apply to surviving children and widows.
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Why does this buffoon always need an interpreter? :banghead: :argh: