By a 51 to 34% margin, the American public trusts President Bush more than Senate Majority Leader Daschle to reform the Social Security system. A nationwide poll of 1200 adults, January 14-17, 2002, the 60 Plus Association conducted by Fabrizio Mclaughlin Associates showed that President Bush is trusted on this issue one and a half times more than Senate Majority Leader Daschle (D-S. Dakota).

The head of a national senior citizens group today declared that to equate the $1.3 trillion tax cut with the economic downturn is “ingenious at best, and dishonest at worst.” 60 Plus Association President Jim Martin issued a statement in response to a speech by Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) on the state of the economy. Martin, head of the nine year old seniors group charged that Daschle was “doing a disservice to seniors.”

“This is an exciting time not only for seniors but just as importantly for our children and grandchildren for they will benefit in the future from a new and improved Social Security system that will result from these options offered today by the bipartisan Commission to Strengthen Social Security. President Bush tasked the Commission with the responsibility to see that current and near retirees’ benefits are preserved, while allowing young workers to take more control of their own financial destiny with personal retirement accounts (PRA’s),” said Jim Martin, President of the 60 Plus Association.

James L. Martin, President of the 60 Plus Association, hailed President George W. Bush’s prescription drug benefit proposal “as fulfilling a campaign promise that senior citizens will receive a benefit which will help them meet the high costs of prescription drugs.”