Social Security plan threatens rural Americans

• President Bush's plan to change Social Security betrays Americans living in small towns or rural areas, a North Carolina congressman said Saturday.
• "Rural Americans need to read the fine print in President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security," said Rep. Bob Etheridge, from Harnett County, south of Raleigh, in the Democratic weekly radio address.
• "The president's Social Security plan cuts benefits and jeopardizes the most important safety net in rural areas for retirees, survivors and the disabled," he said.
• Etheridge said he would help educate rural Americans, usually older and poorer, about the importance of the national program.
• Bush's proposals for Social Security have been at the forefront of his second-term domestic agenda. He advocates sweeping changes to the 70-year-old program, including the introduction of private accounts.
• In his address, Etheridge said his constituents from small communities "count on getting the Social Security benefits they have earned."
• "Social Security represents the best of America's values. It is a promise to Americans who work hard and play by the rules, that they will be able to retire with decency and dignity," he said.