Silence greets Thompson's plan on Social Security; Risk seen in calling for cuts (Boston Globe)

Silence greets Thompson's plan on Social Security
Risk seen in calling for cuts

By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff | October 15, 2007

WASHINGTON - For weeks, Republican presidential
candidate Fred Thompson was pilloried for offering
vague aphorisms. So, when he unveiled a Social
Security plan last week that would significantly
cut benefits, pundits expressed shock at such a
politically risky proposal. The other candidates,
meanwhile, said next to nothing.

Mitt Romney, the Republican former Massachusetts
governor, felt no need to compete with Thompson
on the issue.

-snip-

The leading Democratic candidate, Senator Hillary
Clinton of New York, also saw no need to offer
a plan. "Too many Republicans and others are
constantly beating the drum on Social Security.
We don't have a crisis in Social Security. We have
a long-term solvency challenge we can meet if
we're smart about it," she said last week in a
meeting with editors and reporters at the Globe.

Thompson's proposal may have drawn little
attention in last week's Republican debate on
economic matters, but few issues have as direct
an impact on most Americans.

-snip-