Clinton Vows He’d Preserve Social Security

A stern Bill Clinton assured America’s elderly Thursday that as President he would protect the Social Security system, calling it “a covenant between generations,” but he also vowed to extract more sacrifices from well-heeled retirees for the good of future generations.

“I’m going to be a President who does right by older Americans,” the Arkansas governor told a convention of the American Assn. of Retired Persons. “But I’m also here to ask you to honor our obligation to our children.”

The speech by Clinton, who earlier this week clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, was intended to demonstrate that he is not one who ducks the tough issues, even before a potentially wary audience.

His campaign staff even distributed a rare press release to emphasize the high points of his remarks.

At various points during Clinton’s 40-minute address, the several thousand retirees in the audience gave him mild applause, but for the most part they listened in silence.

Afterward, though, several hundred AARP members stood under a broiling Texas sun, waiting for more than 30 minutes to get a closer look at the 45-year-old candidate as he emerged from the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.

“He didn’t get a lot of applause, but he’s right about what we have to pass on,” said Robert Booth, a retired postmaster from Tiffin, Ohio. “He laid it on the line. There’s no free ride for anybody.”

Clinton also promised to introduce national health insurance legislation during the first year of his Administration, saying it would contain “a comprehensive package of benefits,” including strong cost controls, particularly on prescription medicine.

The governor also said he would promote a long-term care program but added that it would charge people “based on their ability to pay.”

Clinton’s talk struck a note consonant with the convention’s theme of “generations growing together.” In calling the Social Security system “a convenant between generations,” Clinton vowed: “I will honor that.”

But Clinton quickly challenged the elderly to join his “crusade” for future generations, saying: “They are the national security issue of 1992.”

“Our future depends on their strengths, their smarts, their skills and their citizenship,” Clinton added. “But after a dozen years of neglect, poverty has exploded among the youngest Americans. We cannot be proud of that.”

Children’s issues also has been a primary cause championed over the years by Hillary Clinton, his wife, who until recently served on the board of the Children’s Defense Fund.

“If we do not fully fund Head Start today,” the governor said in language rarely heard from past Democratic presidential contenders, “we may not be able to fully fund Social Security 20 years from now.”

Among the ways to pay for programs such as prenatal care and immunization for all preschoolers is to raise taxes on annual earnings of $200,000 or more, Clinton said as he looked out over a sea of people, mostly with white hair--and most of whom sat stiffly with their hands in their laps.

Clinton also said that those with annual incomes of $125,000 or more can expect “higher prices for Medicare.” In return, he said, they would get effective cost controls on health care and a “sensible” long-term care system.

“The days of something for nothing are over,” Clinton declared. “We cannot ask the middle class to pay more. Their incomes went down and their taxes went up in the 1980s. . . . Those who received most of the benefits of the 1980s should shoulder more of the burden in the 1990s.”

Clinton acknowledged that his message “may not be popular,” but he added: “All this is in your self-interest and the national interest.”

Later, the Arkansas governor appeared on CNN to respond to President Bush’s evening press conference. Clinton said he opposes the balanced-budget amendment as it is now worded because, he said, it would require severe spending cuts that would “aggravate” the recession.

He called Bush’s advocacy of a balanced-budget amendment “sort of hollow,” adding: “He’s now embracing it because that excuses him from having to present a balanced budget. . . . It’ll all happen after he’s out of office. . . . He lets himself off the hook.”

Clinton called on Bush to exercise “discipline” now by making further cuts in the defense budget and acting to limit the rise in health care costs to the rate of inflation--in part by proposing a national health insurance program.

Speaking on the “Larry King Live” talk show, via satellite from Little Rock, Ark., Clinton also used the opportunity to argue that he--not Texas billionaire Ross Perot--is the real doer.

“I’m the only one who’s balanced a budget,” Clinton said, adding that, if elected, “I would present a five-year plan (to balance the federal budget).

“My argument is: Look, I am the only one running who’s actually worked in government and made it work. I am the only person who’s got a plan. . . . Other people are just talking about it.”

The governor returned to Little Rock Thursday afternoon and was looking forward to a long weekend of rest. Until appearances in New York and New Jersey early next week, his only scheduled campaign event is a Friday night speech in Houston at the Texas Democratic Party convention.