Thompson Social Security Plan Slashes Benefits, GOP Backers 'Spooked'

Congressional supporters of Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) are splitting with him over his proposal to curb the cost of Social Security by cutting projected benefits by as much as 25 percent over the next 33 years, according to the estimate of one conservative think tank...

...At a speech Wednesday before the anti-tax group Club for Growth, Thompson called "indexing benefits to inflation instead of wages" a "common sense" idea and a "step in the right direction."

Michael Tanner, the director of health and welfare studies at the Cato Institute, a fiscally conservative think tank, said that pegging Social Security benefits to inflation would preserve the program's solvency. He also said it could lead to a dramatic cut in benefits.

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