WASHINGTON - President Bush's budget calls for elimination of a $255 lump-sum death payment that has been part of Social Security for more than 50 years and urges Congress to cut off monthly survivor benefits to 16- and 17-year-old high school dropouts.
If approved, the two proposals would save a combined $3.4 billion over the next decade, according to administration estimates.
This is just a petty, vicious, pointless idea. Survivor benefits give people a chance to maintain their economic existence after one spouse dies. There's no reason to tie it to school enrollment.
Time to get your Republican member of Congress on the record. Ask him/her if they support Bush's plan to cut Social Security.