WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - President Bill Clinton will propose transferring the bulk of projected budget surpluses over the next 15 years, more than $2.7 trillion, to shore up the Social Security System, the White House said on Tuesday.
In his State of the Union speech, Clinton will call for dedicating 62 percent of the surpluses to the retirement income system, with 20 to 25 percent of this sum being invested in the private sector through the stock market.
``The president will detail a new framework tonight for ensuring the long-term solvency of Social Security,'' White House spokesman Joe Lockhart told reporters as he provided the details. ``It's a bold approach to save Social Security now.''
Lockhart said transferring the bulk of the surpluses to Social Security, and investing some of this in the stock market, would extend the solvency of the retirement income system until 2055. -- Enrique Diaz-Alvarez Office # (607) 255 5034 Electrical Engineering Home # (607) 272 4808 112 Phillips Hall Fax # (607) 255 4565 Cornell University mailto:enrique at ee.cornell.edu Ithaca, NY 14853 http://peta.ee.cornell.edu/~enrique