Bush and Gore Pension Plans

* Re “Flawed Social Security Plans,” editorial, May 17:

Any plan to revise and improve Social Security payouts can only use a very small percentage of the input taxes, and such a plan needs to be developed over time, in the open, by people who have more than their political futures in mind.

Al Gore wants an instant fix, not for the good of the country but to give him a target to shoot at for his political gain. George W. Bush is being careful. He has already disclosed that the ultimate plan should not change anything except the way approximately two percentage points of the input may be considered for investment.

It is not surprising that some opponents, like Gore, condemn the stock market as being a bad investment because of its volatility. It will no doubt come as a surprise to Gore and his minions that not everyone sold out. They still have their shares and have not lost anything. It is presumptuous to demand and expect a total solution. We are learning, however, that Gore is nothing more than an attack dog and certainly not qualified to sit in the president’s chair.

BOB WHITNEY

Los Angeles

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If Social Security is such a great deal, why is it that people who call privatizing it “risky” do not even participate in the program they claim to defend? All federal employees including the president, vice president and their staffs do not participate in the Social Security program but rather have their own separate retirement program. The reason why public employees have such great pension programs is that they are professionally managed stock portfolios. If this “risky stock investment scheme” is good enough for the vice president and his family, why not mine?

WILLIAM P. McGOWAN

Ventura