Sunday, February 06, 2005
Obstructionist?
My friends, I talk alot about Social Security because the government program is huge. Unless the program is updated, it will fail. Imagine that you are running a business, and a machine you use to make a product is 50 years old, and breaks down. You need to decide whether to buy stuff to fix it permanently, buy stuff to temporarily fix it (i.e. bandaid), or you buy a new one that will produce better results. This is the crisis that we find ourselves in with SS. We are only a couple generations away from our SS system failing. Unless it is modernized, I have no confidence I will get any of it when I retire.
There are many of our congressional folk who say that SS isn't in a crisis. There are many who say there is no problem at all. There are many who just want to raise taxes to cover the extra spending. It simply doesn't add up. Once you start making more withdrawls from your checking account than you are putting in, you'll start paying a lot more to have the checking account.
This is not a partisian issue. But I've been observing a lot of partisian talk lately. Just so everyone knows, those who deny SS is in trouble now, didn't always think so. Here are some Democrats on the subject:
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV):
"[M]ost Of Us Have No Problem With Taking A Small Amount Of The Social Security Proceeds And Putting It Into The Private Sector." (Fox’s "Fox News Sunday," 2/14/99)
"We’re Visiting Chile Because It Is Doing Interesting Things In Social Security And Other Parts Of Its Free Market System." (Tony Batt, "Reid To Embark On South America Trip," Las Vegas Review-Journal, 3/30/99)
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
"Durbin Said Due To The Increasing Number Of ‘Baby Boomers’ Reaching Retirement Age, Social Security Will Be Unable To Pay Out Full Benefits … But The Sooner Congress Acts To Avert This Crisis The Easier And Less Painful It Will Be." (Sen. Dick Durbin, "Reforming Social Security," Press Release, 9/15/98)
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
"We Have To Move On Now, And Start Fixing Social Security And Preserving It And Reining In The HMOS And Making Our Schools Better." (Fox’s "Special Report," 2/12/99)
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI)
President Clinton’s "Budget Focuses On The Right Priorities For The Nation – Education, Health Care, Child Care And The Strengthening And Protecting Of Social Security." (Melanie Eversley, "Budget Proposal Has Some Good News For Michigan," Detroit Free Press, 2/2/99)
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
"Fixing Social Security Is An Urgent Priority. It Ought To Be At The Top Of Both Parties’ Agendas." (Sen. Byron Dorgan, "Fixing Social Security Must Top Both Parties’ Agendas," Roll Call, 12/6/99)
"This Report [By The Center On Budget And Policy Priorities] Provides Powerful And Convincing Evidence Of The Need To Save Social Security First." (Sen. Byron Dorgan, "Dorgan Says New Report Provides Powerful Evidence Of Need To Save Social Security First," Press Release, 7/24/98)
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
"I’ll Tell You Exactly What I’d Do. I Would Lift The $65,000 Cap, Let It Go Right Up To The Top Of -- For Payment For Individuals And Then Cut The Payroll Tax For Every American That Pays It And That Would Be Significant -- That Would Be A Significant Reduction For Working Families." (CNN’s "Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields," 6/27/98)
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
"West Virginia Has The Oldest Population Of Any State, So I Share Completely The President’s Commitment To Working Quickly To Strengthen Social Security …" (Sen. Jay Rockefeller, Rockefeller Reacts To State Of The Union Address," Press Release, 1/19/99)
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
"I Was At The Social Security Summit At The White House, Along With 40 Of My Colleagues, Republicans And Democrats. And There Was Virtual Unanimity Of Opinion That We Simply Have To Get A Higher Return From The Social Security Investments." (Fox News’ "Special Report," 1/20/99)
Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI)
"People Can See, I Think, A [Social Security] Crisis Where There Immediate Family Is Affected Even If Not Immediately … This Is Something That Affects Almost Everybody’s Immediate Family." (Richard A. Ryan, "Social Security Reform Stalls," The Detroit News, 2/2/02)
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)
"I Am One Democrat That Truly Believes That Democrats Will Not Benefit By Doing Nothing On Social Security." (Rep. Charles Rangel, Press Conference, 1/21/99)
Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)
"This Investment Of The Trust Fund In Equities Would Bring Social Security Into Line With The Best Practice Of Both Private And Public Sector Pension Plans." (Rep. Earl Pomeroy, Committee On Commerce, U.S. House Of Representatives, Testimony, 2/25/99)
Former Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-MO)
"Why Should Social Security Recipients Be Disadvantaged By Not Getting To Be Able To Have Higher Returns Out Of The Stock Market?" (Rep. Dick Gephardt, Press Conference, 1/21/99)
President Clinton
"[F]irst, And Above All, We Must Save Social Security For The 21st Century." (President Bill Clinton, State Of The Union, 1/19/99)
"Now Is The Time To Strengthen Social Security For The Future. … We Can And Must Accomplish This Critical Goal For The American People." (The White House, "Statement On Congressional Inaction On Legislation To Strengthen Social Security," Press Release, 4/23/99)
"[W]hat I Believe We Should Do Is To Invest A Modest Amount Of This In The Private Sector, The Way Every Other Retirement Plan Does. The Arizona State Retirement Plan Does; Every Municipal Retirement Plan Does; Every Private Plan Does." (President Bill Clinton, Remarks To The Citizens Of Tucson On Medicare And Social Security, Tucson, AZ,
2/25/99)
"[P]eople … In The Investment Community … Said They Thought I Was Right And They Hoped That We Wouldn’t Let Initial Criticism Stop Us From Offering A Plan Which Would Demonstrate To The American People That You Could Run This Investment Just Like Any Other Public Pension Investment Is Run. And I Am Confident That We Can Do That." (President Bill Clinton, Remarks To AARP National Legislative Council, Washington, DC, 2/3/99)
"Here We’ve Identified It And There Are Obvious Differences About What Should Be Done To Fix Social Security For The 21st Century. But We All Know That There Are Basically Only Three Options: We Can Raise Taxes Again, Which No One Wants To Do Because The Payroll Tax Is Regressive. Over Half The American People Who Are Working Pay More Payroll Tax Than Income Tax Today. We Can Cut Benefits … Or We Can Work Together
To Try To Find Some Way To Increase The Rate Of Return." (President Bill Clinton, Remarks At Social Security And Y2K Event, Washington, DC, 12/28/98)
"We Must Act Now Across Party Lines To Make Social Security As Strong For Our Children As It Has Been For Our Parents." (President Bill Clinton, Radio Address, 9/19/98)
"We Know The Problem. We Know That If We Act Now It Will Be Easier And Less Painful Than If We Wait Until Later. I Don’t Think Any Of You Want To See America In A Situation Where We Have To Cut Benefits 25 Percent, Or Raise Inherently Regressive Payroll Taxes 25 Percent, To Deal With The Challenge Of The Future And Our Obligations To Our Seniors." (President Bill Clinton, Remarks To The Concord Coalition/AARP Social Security Forum, Albuquerque, NM, 7/27/98)
"It May Seem A Long Way Away From The Time You’re Now – Where You Are Until You Will Need Retirement. It May Seem A Long Way Away Before Most Of Your Parents Need Retirement. But It Isn’t. And Great Societies Plan Over Long Periods Of Time So That Individual Lives Can Flower And Take Root And Take Form. And That Is What We Have To Do Today." (President Bill Clinton, Remarks At Georgetown University On Social Security, Washington, DC, 2/9/98)
"We Now Know That The Social Security Trust Fund Is Fine For Another Few Decades. But If It Gets In Trouble And We Don’t Deal With It, Then It Not Only Affects The Generation Of The Baby Boomers And Whether They’ll Have Enough To Live On When They Retire, It Raises The Question Of Whether They Will Have Enough To Live On By Unfairly Burdening Their Children And, Therefore, Unfairly Burdening Their Children’s Ability To Raise Their Grandchildren. That Would Be Unconscionable …" (President Bill Clinton, Remarks At Georgetown University On Social Security, Washington, DC, 2/9/98)
Hillary Clinton
"Clearly, It’s In All Our Interests To Preserve And Strengthen Social Security Into The Next Century. And If We Don’t Want To Burden Our Children And Grandchildren, If We Want To Make Sure Social Security Remains Solvent Well Into The 21st Century, We Must Make Bold Decisions Now." (Hillary Clinton, Op-Ed, "Bold Decisions Needed For Social Security," Chattanooga Times Free Press, 2/21/99)
"[O]ne Of The Most Critical Challenges Of Our Time [Is] Preserving And Strengthening Social Security For Future Generations." (Remarks By Hillary Clinton, White House Event On Social Security, The White House, Washington D.C., 2/17/99)
Bruce Reed, Clinton White House Domestic Policy Adviser
"Some Type Of Structure Like The Thrift Savings Plan" For Universal Savings Accounts. (The White House, "Press Briefing By Senior Administration Officials," Press Release, 1/20/99)
Source for quotes was provided by "A Guide to Social Security Reform", printed by the House Republican Conference and the Senate Republican Conference.
There are many of our congressional folk who say that SS isn't in a crisis. There are many who say there is no problem at all. There are many who just want to raise taxes to cover the extra spending. It simply doesn't add up. Once you start making more withdrawls from your checking account than you are putting in, you'll start paying a lot more to have the checking account.
This is not a partisian issue. But I've been observing a lot of partisian talk lately. Just so everyone knows, those who deny SS is in trouble now, didn't always think so. Here are some Democrats on the subject:
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV):
"[M]ost Of Us Have No Problem With Taking A Small Amount Of The Social Security Proceeds And Putting It Into The Private Sector." (Fox’s "Fox News Sunday," 2/14/99)
"We’re Visiting Chile Because It Is Doing Interesting Things In Social Security And Other Parts Of Its Free Market System." (Tony Batt, "Reid To Embark On South America Trip," Las Vegas Review-Journal, 3/30/99)
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
"Durbin Said Due To The Increasing Number Of ‘Baby Boomers’ Reaching Retirement Age, Social Security Will Be Unable To Pay Out Full Benefits … But The Sooner Congress Acts To Avert This Crisis The Easier And Less Painful It Will Be." (Sen. Dick Durbin, "Reforming Social Security," Press Release, 9/15/98)
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
"We Have To Move On Now, And Start Fixing Social Security And Preserving It And Reining In The HMOS And Making Our Schools Better." (Fox’s "Special Report," 2/12/99)
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI)
President Clinton’s "Budget Focuses On The Right Priorities For The Nation – Education, Health Care, Child Care And The Strengthening And Protecting Of Social Security." (Melanie Eversley, "Budget Proposal Has Some Good News For Michigan," Detroit Free Press, 2/2/99)
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
"Fixing Social Security Is An Urgent Priority. It Ought To Be At The Top Of Both Parties’ Agendas." (Sen. Byron Dorgan, "Fixing Social Security Must Top Both Parties’ Agendas," Roll Call, 12/6/99)
"This Report [By The Center On Budget And Policy Priorities] Provides Powerful And Convincing Evidence Of The Need To Save Social Security First." (Sen. Byron Dorgan, "Dorgan Says New Report Provides Powerful Evidence Of Need To Save Social Security First," Press Release, 7/24/98)
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
"I’ll Tell You Exactly What I’d Do. I Would Lift The $65,000 Cap, Let It Go Right Up To The Top Of -- For Payment For Individuals And Then Cut The Payroll Tax For Every American That Pays It And That Would Be Significant -- That Would Be A Significant Reduction For Working Families." (CNN’s "Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields," 6/27/98)
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
"West Virginia Has The Oldest Population Of Any State, So I Share Completely The President’s Commitment To Working Quickly To Strengthen Social Security …" (Sen. Jay Rockefeller, Rockefeller Reacts To State Of The Union Address," Press Release, 1/19/99)
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
"I Was At The Social Security Summit At The White House, Along With 40 Of My Colleagues, Republicans And Democrats. And There Was Virtual Unanimity Of Opinion That We Simply Have To Get A Higher Return From The Social Security Investments." (Fox News’ "Special Report," 1/20/99)
Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI)
"People Can See, I Think, A [Social Security] Crisis Where There Immediate Family Is Affected Even If Not Immediately … This Is Something That Affects Almost Everybody’s Immediate Family." (Richard A. Ryan, "Social Security Reform Stalls," The Detroit News, 2/2/02)
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)
"I Am One Democrat That Truly Believes That Democrats Will Not Benefit By Doing Nothing On Social Security." (Rep. Charles Rangel, Press Conference, 1/21/99)
Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)
"This Investment Of The Trust Fund In Equities Would Bring Social Security Into Line With The Best Practice Of Both Private And Public Sector Pension Plans." (Rep. Earl Pomeroy, Committee On Commerce, U.S. House Of Representatives, Testimony, 2/25/99)
Former Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-MO)
"Why Should Social Security Recipients Be Disadvantaged By Not Getting To Be Able To Have Higher Returns Out Of The Stock Market?" (Rep. Dick Gephardt, Press Conference, 1/21/99)
President Clinton
"[F]irst, And Above All, We Must Save Social Security For The 21st Century." (President Bill Clinton, State Of The Union, 1/19/99)
"Now Is The Time To Strengthen Social Security For The Future. … We Can And Must Accomplish This Critical Goal For The American People." (The White House, "Statement On Congressional Inaction On Legislation To Strengthen Social Security," Press Release, 4/23/99)
"[W]hat I Believe We Should Do Is To Invest A Modest Amount Of This In The Private Sector, The Way Every Other Retirement Plan Does. The Arizona State Retirement Plan Does; Every Municipal Retirement Plan Does; Every Private Plan Does." (President Bill Clinton, Remarks To The Citizens Of Tucson On Medicare And Social Security, Tucson, AZ,
2/25/99)
"[P]eople … In The Investment Community … Said They Thought I Was Right And They Hoped That We Wouldn’t Let Initial Criticism Stop Us From Offering A Plan Which Would Demonstrate To The American People That You Could Run This Investment Just Like Any Other Public Pension Investment Is Run. And I Am Confident That We Can Do That." (President Bill Clinton, Remarks To AARP National Legislative Council, Washington, DC, 2/3/99)
"Here We’ve Identified It And There Are Obvious Differences About What Should Be Done To Fix Social Security For The 21st Century. But We All Know That There Are Basically Only Three Options: We Can Raise Taxes Again, Which No One Wants To Do Because The Payroll Tax Is Regressive. Over Half The American People Who Are Working Pay More Payroll Tax Than Income Tax Today. We Can Cut Benefits … Or We Can Work Together
To Try To Find Some Way To Increase The Rate Of Return." (President Bill Clinton, Remarks At Social Security And Y2K Event, Washington, DC, 12/28/98)
"We Must Act Now Across Party Lines To Make Social Security As Strong For Our Children As It Has Been For Our Parents." (President Bill Clinton, Radio Address, 9/19/98)
"We Know The Problem. We Know That If We Act Now It Will Be Easier And Less Painful Than If We Wait Until Later. I Don’t Think Any Of You Want To See America In A Situation Where We Have To Cut Benefits 25 Percent, Or Raise Inherently Regressive Payroll Taxes 25 Percent, To Deal With The Challenge Of The Future And Our Obligations To Our Seniors." (President Bill Clinton, Remarks To The Concord Coalition/AARP Social Security Forum, Albuquerque, NM, 7/27/98)
"It May Seem A Long Way Away From The Time You’re Now – Where You Are Until You Will Need Retirement. It May Seem A Long Way Away Before Most Of Your Parents Need Retirement. But It Isn’t. And Great Societies Plan Over Long Periods Of Time So That Individual Lives Can Flower And Take Root And Take Form. And That Is What We Have To Do Today." (President Bill Clinton, Remarks At Georgetown University On Social Security, Washington, DC, 2/9/98)
"We Now Know That The Social Security Trust Fund Is Fine For Another Few Decades. But If It Gets In Trouble And We Don’t Deal With It, Then It Not Only Affects The Generation Of The Baby Boomers And Whether They’ll Have Enough To Live On When They Retire, It Raises The Question Of Whether They Will Have Enough To Live On By Unfairly Burdening Their Children And, Therefore, Unfairly Burdening Their Children’s Ability To Raise Their Grandchildren. That Would Be Unconscionable …" (President Bill Clinton, Remarks At Georgetown University On Social Security, Washington, DC, 2/9/98)
Hillary Clinton
"Clearly, It’s In All Our Interests To Preserve And Strengthen Social Security Into The Next Century. And If We Don’t Want To Burden Our Children And Grandchildren, If We Want To Make Sure Social Security Remains Solvent Well Into The 21st Century, We Must Make Bold Decisions Now." (Hillary Clinton, Op-Ed, "Bold Decisions Needed For Social Security," Chattanooga Times Free Press, 2/21/99)
"[O]ne Of The Most Critical Challenges Of Our Time [Is] Preserving And Strengthening Social Security For Future Generations." (Remarks By Hillary Clinton, White House Event On Social Security, The White House, Washington D.C., 2/17/99)
Bruce Reed, Clinton White House Domestic Policy Adviser
"Some Type Of Structure Like The Thrift Savings Plan" For Universal Savings Accounts. (The White House, "Press Briefing By Senior Administration Officials," Press Release, 1/20/99)
Source for quotes was provided by "A Guide to Social Security Reform", printed by the House Republican Conference and the Senate Republican Conference.
Kicknit 2/06/2005