erage if payroll taxes were invested in nonfinancial
corporate capital, and reduced private savings na-
tionally by about 60 percent.
In 1998, the Concord Coalition issued its frame-
work for reforming Social Security. In addition to
principles of reform such as fairness, intergenera-
tional equity, and fiscal responsibility, the report
highlighted two options. The first, or “defined bene-
fit,” approach entailed continuing the current pro-
gram with deficit financing when balances were neg-
ative. The second approach entailed moving partially
or entirely toward “defined contributions,” more
like workplace 401(k) plans.
President Clinton announced his Universal Sav-
ings Accounts (USA) plan in the 1999 state of the
union address and elaborated on it throughout the
year. Among other Social Security reforms, Clinton
proposed that workers earning up to $80,000 per
year receive refundable tax credits, deposited di-
rectly into their USA accounts, and that the federal
government match additional contributions on a
sliding scale depending on their income, with extra
help to those least able to save.
A nonpartisan electronic discussion and debate
on Social Security, dubbed the National Dialogue
on Social Security, occurred between April 19 and
June 4, 1999. Fifteen hundred people from forty-
seven states and Puerto Rico participated. Viewpoints
covered support for current structure, means-
testing benefits, and privatizing the system. Ini-
tiatives that had individual accounts either as an
optional or mandatory percentage of wages as a
component of Social Security reform were dis-
cussed. However, legislative measures were assigned
to and languished in congressional committees with
no further action taken.
Impact Efforts to reform Old Age, Survivors, and
Disability Insurance (OASDI) and Medicare had no
substantive legislative successes during the 1990’s.
Nonetheless, Social Security reform efforts in-
creased public awareness of and debate about the
nature and extent of the “crisis” the nation faced in
light of an aging population and diminishing num-
bers of workers to support increasing numbers of re-
tirees. Furthermore, privatization of Social Security
either in whole or in part, whose support in any
event had been limited to a small number of econo-
mists and conservative think tanks such as the Cato
Institute, found much greater receptivity as a viable
reform option among key politicians, including
President Clinton, as well as among younger and
more affluent segments of the population. Social Se-
curity reform, dormant since the previous reform ef-
forts in the early 1980’s, was once again on the politi-
cal agenda.
Subsequent Events Social Security reform was an
integral part of the presidential election debates in- In 2001, President George W. Bush made per-
sonal retirement accounts a central component of
his domestic agenda.
Further Reading
Blackburn, Robin.Banking on Death: Or, Investing in
Life—The Histor y and Future of Pensions. London:
Verso, 2002. Examines the “crisis” of pensions,
placing Social Security reforms in the United
States in a global context.
Clinton, William J. “Remarks on the Universal Sav-
ings Accounts Initiative.”Weekly Compilation of
Presidential Documents35, no. 15 (April 19, 1999):
640-642. The president’s announcement and
brief description of his Social Security reform ini-
tiative.
DiSimone, Rita. “Bipartisan Commission on Entitle-
ment and Tax Reform.”Social Security Bulletin58,
no. 2 (Summer, 1995): 74-76. Summarized in-
terim and final reports of the commission.
Peterson, Peter G.Facing Up: How to Rescue the Econ-
omy from Crushing Debt and Restore the American
Dream. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Popu-
larized the idea of a national fiscal crisis well into
the twenty-first century unless immediate re-
forms were implemented.
Richard K. Caputo
See also Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990;
Balanced Budget Act of 1997; Clinton, Bill; Conser-
vatism in U.S. politics; Contract with America; De-
fense budget cuts; Demographics of the United
States; Elections in the United States, midterm; Elec-
tions in the United States, 1992; Elections in the
United States, 1996; Gingrich, Newt; Greenspan,
Alan; Health care reform; Liberalism in U.S. poli-
tics; National debt; Perot, H. Ross; Poverty; Stock
market; Welfare reform.The Nineties in America Social Security reform 787