GOP candidates lukewarm on Social Security privatization

Prince William County, Va. - The men who seek to unseat Rep. Gerald E. "Gerry" Connolly seem lukewarm on Social Security privatization, an issue that's a major part of a House GOP budget plan.

Oakton businessman Keith Fimian and Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity, who are squaring off in a June 8 Republican primary, didn't dismiss the notion of partial privatization.

But neither of the candidates in the 11th congressional district, which includes most of Prince William County, explicitly endorsed the ideas of Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, either.

Ryan, the GOP's head budget-writer, introduced a bill in January called the Roadmap for Amer-ica's Future.

The proposal would preserve Social Security as-is for those 55 and older.

Workers younger than 55, though, would have the option of investing more than one-third of their current Social Security taxes in personal retirement accounts, similar to federal employees' Thrift Savings Plan.

The Congressional Budget Office says the changes would ensure Social Security's solvency, accord-ing to Ryan.

Fimian said Ryan makes a "powerful intellectual argument" for reform. But, he said, the plan won't go anywhere in today's "highly charged political climate."

"The way forward is to protect Social Security," he said in a statement issued by his cam-paign.

That requires four steps, Fimian said:

• controlling spending

• not breaking the "contract we have with seniors by changing the rules once they are in or near retirement age"

• the formation of a commission made up of all interested parties that could suggest changes

• a solution that doesn't come from a specific political party.

"I want to fix Social Security because I want people to be able to count on it in their retirement years, but only by these four steps do I see that happening," he said. "So let me be clear: I will not support efforts that cut Social Security benefits."

Herrity said he hasn't studied Ryan's plan thoroughly, but he's more interested in encouraging personal saving by Americans.

Social Security wasn't supposed to be a solitary safety net, he noted.

"It was supposed to be one leg of a three-legged stool," Herrity said, referring to the notion that includes personal saving and traditional employee pensions as the other "legs."

Also, he said, the government could help with tax breaks.

One thousand dollars saved tax-free for a child would be $1 million by the time the little one was 60 years old, he said.

The issue has been a hotter topic in other House races, including in Mississippi's 1st District and in Virginia's 5th District, where seven Republicans seek the nomination to run against freshman Rep. Tom Perriello, like Connolly a Democrat.

Staff writer Jonathan Hunley can be reached at 703-369-5738.