Breadth Is Urged for Retirement Package
Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said the Bush administration's proposal to create personal accounts for Social Security should be part of a broader package that provides tax incentives for more retirement savings.
The changes should encourage saving through company-sponsored 401(k) programs and Individual Retirement Accounts that will make more money available for "investment in the private sector," Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said.
"It goes way beyond Social Security, and if you're talking about an ownership society, Social Security would be just a small part of it," Grassley said in an interview with Bloomberg News.
Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said earlier this week that the Bush administration's Social Security proposal was a "dead horse" that will be altered by Congress.
Social Security faces a $3.7 trillion funding gap during the next 75 years as the number of retirees increases relative to the number of workers paying into the system, according to the program's trustees.
This week, Thomas suggested a review of the payroll tax that funds the system and said the proposal to allow young workers to invest a portion of their Social Security payroll tax in the stock market might be an opportunity for Congress to reconsider how the tax is assessed.
Pentagon Recommends Freeing Third Detainee
The Pentagon has determined that a third person detained at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is not an enemy combatant and should be released.
The Defense Department, which announced the decision Wednesday, declined to provide any details about the man's nationality, why he was imprisoned or when he would be transferred to his home country. Lawyers representing alleged al Qaeda and Taliban fighters at Guantanamo Bay said they cannot be certain of the detainee's identity.
The military has been reviewing the status of Guantanamo Bay detainees since the Supreme Court ruled in June that the captives have the right to challenge their imprisonment in U.S. courts.
They have decided that 327 of 330 men scrutinized so far should remain in custody. An additional 220 detainees have been reviewed by the special tribunals, but final decisions about their status have not been made.
Last year, the panels determined that two other detainees were not enemy combatants. Neither was identified.
2 Cabinet Secretaries Confirmed by Senate
On the same day as President Bush's second inauguration, the Senate confirmed the first two new members of his Cabinet, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.
Spellings and Johanns were confirmed on a voice vote hours after Bush took the oath of office.
Senators said Johanns, who was governor of Nebraska, was perfect for the job, given his experience running a state with deep agricultural interests. Spellings was Bush's domestic policy chief.
-- Compiled from reports by staff writer Carol Leonnig
and news services
