Citizen Question: Moving the Debate Forward

[Reed Davis <rdavis2@ix.netcom.com>]

Representative Archer wrote:
>
> In introducing our plan, Congressman Shaw and I have stuck our necks out;
> already we have received harsh criticism from the Left and Right and been
> all but dismissed by our colleagues in the minority.  Any bipartisan reform
> of this magnitude requires a President's action.  As far as I am concerned,
> I have done all I can to move this debate forward--the next move must be the
> President's.
>
As someone who criticized your plan, let me say that I can appreciate your
position.  If you had offered a plan that suggested even the most minor and
reasonable of benefit cuts or tax hikes, you may very well have received a
withering attack from supporters of Clinton's plan.  It might be helpful if
all plans could be subjected to some sort of generational accounting to keep
the cost of the programs from being pushed into the future.  In any case, I
hope that some method can be found to keep the debate moving forward.

If your plan is still on the table, I would appreciate being able to read
the Social Security Actuaries report that pertains to it along with the
attachments referenced in it.  I could not find it on your site.  I would
like to see an estimate of what the resulting gross federal debt will be
under your plan.  Thank you.

[Moderator's Note: The report in question is available on Rep. Archer's
site - under the "Technical Details" section of his Social Security
page.  For the convenience of participants in the National Dialogue,
we have made a copy of this report available in the Briefing Book
section of our site.  Just press the Briefing Book button on any
page of the site, and scroll down to the Archer/Shaw proposal.  We
are looking for the corresponding report on President Clinton's
proposals.  If any of our readers has a reference to such a
report, please let us know, and we'll make a copy available as
well.]

Reed Davis