The interesting political feature of Gov. George W. Bush's recent comment that he would consider gradually raising the age at which people become eligible for Social Security is that the idea came from a leader of one of the two mainstream parties. Normally, potentially controversial reforms of entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare arise from organizations that worry little about political consequences. Actually, one would assume such a gutsy proposal would come from the Reform Party. Its founder, Ross Perot, did the nation a service by emphasizing the deficit's threat to America's prosperity back during the early 1990s. But his party seems awfully quiet these days on big budget issues.
Reformers indeed seem more focused elsewhere, like on their internal rivalries.
So, too, is the party's stands on international trade and national sovereignty. Buchanan, a Reform presidential candidate, consistently argues that pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement threaten our shores and hurt our economy. He and 1996 Reform vice-presidential candidate Pat Choate even traveled to Seattle to voice their concerns during the fiery first round of global trade talks. Paul Truax, the Reform Party's Southwestern regional representative, notes that the party's headlines are only natural. But the contrast between today's Reformers and the problems emphasized by the organization that gave birth to the Reform Party, United We Stand America, are striking.