TLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Governor George W. Bush is drafting ''a secret plan'' to privatize Social Security and possibly raise the retirement age, his Democratic rival Al Gore said yesterday.
Gore called on the presumptive Republican nominee to release his proposal, which he charged would undermine the federal retirement program, put workers at risk and threaten the booming economy.
''I call upon him to tell us what is in his secret plan to privatize Social Security,'' Gore said in an address to the New Jersey chapter of the AFL-CIO.
The vice president quoted Bush aides as saying in recent weeks that the Texas governor did not intend to release the plan until after election day Nov. 7.
''He just smiles and goes on with the smug assumption that there is no need to share with you the details of what he intends to do,'' Gore said.
''He claims ... his advisers claim that they would be too controversial and confusing, and that it is best not to let you, the voters of this country, in on the secret plan before the election,'' Gore said.
Bush insisted through a spokesman that he has ''no plan, only some basic principles'' to guide his desire partially to privatize the 65-year-old program.
Spokesman Dan Bartlett said these ''principles'' include allowing ''younger workers'' to invest a portion of their Social Security account in the stock market.
Bartlett said no decisions have been made on such questions as how young these workers would have to be, how much they could invest, or exactly how they could do it.
While Bush has said he is open to the possibility of raising the retirement age, Bartlett said, there would be ''no reduction in benefits to retirees.''
As Gore was speaking in Atlantic City, Bush, in an interview at the Texas governor's mansion, said: ''I'm in favor of the opportunity for workers to invest some of their payroll tax money in the private sector, manage some of their payroll tax money in the private sector, so that the compounding rate of interest inherent in the private sector becomes an integral part of the returns.''
Bush said he would negotiate the details of his plan with Congress and did not want to lock himself into specifics.
