WASHINGTON - February 25 - Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) today called on Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan to resign after Greenspan told the House Budget Committee that Social Security benefits should be cut to deal with the deficit.

Kucinich, Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, issued the following statement:

"Greenspan should resign. It is a disgrace that the chairman of the Federal Reserve would advocate making tomorrow's old, infirm and disabled pay for today's tax cuts to millionaires. That is exactly the effect of his testimony to the Budget Committee, and if it ever became law, it would have highly prejudicial effects:

"Greenspan would put the burden of paying for elimination of the tax on millionaire estates and the reduction of the tax on incomes averaging one million dollars onto people who were typically low to middle income during their work lives.

"Greenspan's idea to index the Social Security retirement age will put the threshold for full benefits on escalator that will slash the value of Social Security benefits for certain racial and ethnic groups because their life expectancies do not increase at the national average life expectancy.

"Greenspan was asked to give reasonable economic policy advice to Congress. Instead, he advocated a policy of intergenerational theft, passing on the burden of this Administration's fiscal irresponsibility onto future generations."

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