DeMint wants to keep more of tax on gas

Freshman U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said his first piece of legislation would aim to grab a bigger hunk of federal gasoline tax revenue for South Carolina.

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DeMint Special

In a teleconference from Wash-ington, Mr. DeMint also said he would support President Bush's push for Social Security reform this year, including the formation of individual retirement accounts that would invest a portion of payroll tax revenue in stocks, bonds and other financial instruments.

But as for one of the central issues of the campaign against Democrat Inez Tenenbaum - tax reform - the rookie U.S. senator said he would wait for the president to form a commission to address the issue next year.

Mr. DeMint, who was harshly criticized by Mrs. Tenenbaum for his support of a 23 percent national sales tax as a substitute for the federal income tax, said his victory proved that tax reform is a winning issue for Republicans.

"This is an issue that's not going to kill us in an election," said Mr. DeMint, who said a quarter of his vote came from people who favored his tax reform position. "In fact, if we were able to pull this off in the next two years, it would be huge for the Republican Party and beneficial to the people."

Based on a recent White House meeting with Mr. Bush, Mr. DeMint said he expects the president to push Social Security reform aggressively this year. He scoffed at critics who worry that stocks and bonds are too risky.

"Nothing is riskier than what we're doing now, because we haven't saved a dime in the current Social Security system," he said.

Most of the reform plans under consideration have safeguards that limit individual retirement account money to less-risky investments, Mr. DeMint said. They also allow older workers to stay in the current Social Security system while freeing younger workers to earmark more of their retirement money for stocks and bonds.

"We've moved mostly from arguing whether we should do anything with Social Security to talking about what the plan should look like," he said.

On the gas tax issue, Mr. DeMint said South Carolina is one of many "donor" states getting millions less in highway money than it pumps into federal coffers. Georgia is also a donor state.

Under his legislation, South Carolina would get 95 percent of the federal gas tax money collected in the state instead of the current 88 percent, he said.

In a Capitol tradition, Mr. DeMint was escorted into the U.S. Senate by South Carolina's senior senator, Lindsey Graham, also a Republican.

Mr. DeMint, who was sworn in Tuesday by Vice President Dick Cheney, replaces retiring U.S. Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, a Democrat.

Reach Jim Nesbitt at (803) 648-1395, ext. 111, or jim.nesbitt@augustachronicle.com.

--From the Wednesday, January 5, 2005 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle