Gingrich Now Wants to Boost Social Security

House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Thursday that, for now, federal surpluses should be used to strengthen Social Security, not cut taxes.

That amounts to a shift in his position and puts him at odds with many GOP conservatives who want to use expected surpluses to help finance big tax reductions this year.

It also demonstrates how President Clinton’s call in his State of the Union address to “save Social Security first” has weakened and divided Republicans.

Though many Republicans, including Gingrich, consider tax cuts one of the GOP’s defining issues, many worry that Clinton’s proposal to use surpluses to strengthen Social Security is too politically appealing to challenge.

Gingrich reiterated that he wants a tax cut this year, paid for with spending reductions and what he said is likely tobacco money from a settlement with the industry or a cigarette tax boost.

But Gingrich amended his long-held view that budget surpluses should be used for three things: reducing the national debt, which helps Social Security by strengthening the economy; tax cuts; and more spending for roads, research and defense.

“We should focus the surplus on Social Security,” he told reporters, until the government achieves black ink without the big Social Security trust fund surpluses it now relies on.

“If we get an operating surplus” without using Social Security surpluses, “I want the operating surplus to go back to the taxpayers,” he said.