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November 07th, 2005Leading Experts come together for a women's panel on Social Security Reform
November 07th 10:30:41 PM
This weekend the Honorable Anna Escobedo Cabral, U.S. Treasurer, along with Lea Abdnor, past member of the President's Commission on Social Security, joined guests from the White House and student leaders at Mount Holyoke as speakers for a women's panel discussion titled "How Social Security Reform Affects Women." The nonpartisan panel took place on Saturday, November 5, at Mount Holyoke College. The panel discussion focued on how Social Security reform and personal retirement accounts empower working women, women of color, and college-aged women.
Panelists included Cabral; Abnor; Ursula Williams from the White House Office of Public Liaison; Students for Saving Social Security's (S4) press secretary Erin Robert, a senior at the College of the Holy Cross; and S4 Education Deputy Director Natalie Vernon, a sophomore at Smith College. The panel's moderator was Jo Jensen '07, S4's chief of staff and cochair of the Massachusetts Alliance of College Republicans.
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South Carolina News Supports DeMint reform efforts
November 07th 04:27:55 PM
"Social Security remains in deep trouble.
In 2017-a little over a decade-the Social Security system will begin to pay out more than it receives in taxes-and pay out more and more each succeeding year-for the retirement of 70 million baby boomers. Federal lawmakers at that time will either have to raise taxes sharply on working people, slash benefits for retirees or increase their irresponsible borrowing...
The need to overhaul the system is urgent, and that reform should include voluntary retirement accounts—to give retirees more control over their financial future. So far, reform has fallen prey to partisan rancor. Democrats have refused to support Bush's efforts to change the system, and they've balked also at putting forth their own comprehensive plan for saving Social Security. It's true, as well, that Bush conceived his own plan without seriously soliciting Democratic input.
South Carolina's two Senators, Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham, have long advocated Social Security reform that allows people to create private retirement accounts with a portion of their federal payroll tax. In June, DeMint, Graham, and nine other Republican senators announced new legislation designed to shore up Social Security, create private accounts, and stop the raid on the Social Security fund. Since 1985, $1.7 trillion has been siphoned from the fund to be used for general federal expenses.
American voters expressed their hope of Social Security reform by giving Bush a second term in office and affirming GOP control of Congress. Federal lawmakers still have a mandate to act. Social Security's looming problems aren't going away."
Read more from Cato
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Why Social Security Reform Will Happen
November 07th 10:06:20 AM
A careful reading of the Roll Call article points to several reasons why Social Security reform will still happen.
1) Principled Senators are still working hard to get a proposal to the floor. If it gets to the Senate, the House will find a way to act on it.
2) Anti-reform forces are dismantling. Americans United to Protect Social Security has dropped from a staff of one hundred to a staff of six.
3) Pro-reform forces which got a late start our growing and strengthening, scaling up because of their commitment to reform.
4) Perhaps most importantly for the first time the White House is sending signals that it may back the Santorum/Demint Plans: Bush, Duffy said, "believes the approach by Sens. Santorum and DeMint
moves in the right direction." If this happens get ready for some action.
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Roll Call: Life After Social Security Reform
November 07th 09:35:00 AM
As you can read in this article, not everyone is giving up easily, and the opposition forces have already dismantled.
ROLL CALL
By Tory Newmyer
November 7, 2005
With most Members of Congress running away from the issue of Social
Security as they head into the 2006 midterm elections, some lawmakers
and lobbyists are still convinced that an overhaul is possible in the
109th Congress.
This clutch of believers, facing strong political headwinds, is hoping
to reignite interest in the effort by scoring some small-bore wins or,
failing that, at least finding time to debate the issue on the Senate
floor.
"The thing that makes me most optimistic is that we continue to get word from the White House that the president has this at the top of his priority list," said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). "We continue to push the first steps."
To do that, DeMint is teaming with Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and a
dramatically scaled-down, business-backed campaign to promote a pair of bills that work around the edges of what President Bush was pushing
earlier this year.
DeMint's bill would dedicate any surplus Social Security funds, now
diverted to other federal programs, into private accounts for workers.
Santorum's measure would guarantee that those born before 1950 would not see their Social Security benefits cut.
Neither plan addresses the program's long-term insolvency, nor do they
approach the scale of the transition to private accounts that President Bush envisioned while he barnstormed the country in support of reform earlier this year.
But after months of bruising partisan debate on the issue and an
apparent desire on both sides to move on, Santorum and DeMint's backers hope to inch the issue back to the forefront by concentrating on some areas of agreement.
The renewed drive comes as Democrats, whose united flank against reform sunk its prospects this year, have all but declared victory and moved on to other issues.
Notably, Americans United to Protect Social Security, the umbrella
lobbying group that worked against the White House plan, has effectively dismantled. It now has six people on staff, down from about 100 at the height of the debate, while its old infrastructure is now focused on the budget reconciliation process.
"Their prospects to reinvigorate the effort to privatize Social Security are about as likely to succeed as new Coke," said Brad Woodhouse, spokesman for Americans United. He noted that President Bush himself has backed off his plan, pointing to comments Bush made earlier this month acknowledging that Congress lacks the appetite to address it.
White House spokesman Trent Duffy said the president remains committed
to reform.
"He's going to keep talking about it," Duffy said. "The president's
going to continue making it a priority and continue working with
Congressional leaders on it."
Bush, Duffy said, "believes the approach by Sens. Santorum and DeMint
moves in the right direction."
The Senators are reaching out to business groups for help in promoting
their bills. Last week, they talked up the proposals at a membership
meeting of the Coalition for the Modernization and Protection of
America's Social Security, a business-backed coalition.
"There was a lot of energy in the room," said Larry Burton, executive
director of the Business Roundtable, which hosts COMPASS. "People are
very anxious about progress; they're anxious about movement."
COMPASS is not the only pro-reform group trying to put a brave face on
the failure of Bush's Social Security overhaul to advance this year. For Our Grandchildren, a grass-roots group, will be working on strengthening its membership rolls, said its chairman, former Rep. Tim Penny
(D-Minn.).
Since interest in the issue by editorial pages and radio talk shows has waned, Penny said, the group has turned its focus to organizing events on college campuses. The group's principals will meet this week in Washington, D.C., to update their long-term plan.
Meanwhile, Students for Saving Social Security, a group founded in the
spring by college students, is also trying to add members. "We're going to grow stronger and more powerful, so when it does come back, we can be ready," founder Jonathon Swanson said.
Not everyone's outlook is as sunny. Derrick Max, executive director of
both COMPASS and the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security, is
considering leaving his posts at the end of the year after 15 years
working for reform.
"I kind of put all my energy into passing it this year," Max said. "And we didn't."
His contract with the alliance is up in December, and he said he would
like to spend more time working with his wife at the Cornerstone
Community School, which they co-founded to educate children from
low-income families.
"I see myself just getting out of lobbying and working for a private
Christian foundation, or something like that, where I don't have to
lobby and schmooze and play politics and the like," he said.
Nevertheless, Max insists, he is an "eternal optimist" about the
prospects for reform. He still wears a blue "Save Social Security Now!" sticker on the lapel of his blazer, and he said he sees a path to achieving comprehensive reform in this Congress.
"In some sense, the bleakness is creating its own opportunity," he said.
Now that centrist Senate Democrats have scored a win against Bush on the issue, Max said they may feel free to embrace parts of his program, and reform could gain momentum early next year.
In internal meetings, COMPASS is assessing that likelihood. Max said at the most recent meeting of the group's steering committee, its directors for the first time discussed how and why the reform drive derailed.
"It was decided at the end of that meeting [that] at some point we're
going to have to sit down and really pick apart all the things we did
right and all the things we think we could have done differently," he
said. But he added that it is still too early to conduct a top-to-bottom assessment.
Meanwhile, Santorum and DeMint are working within the Senate GOP
Conference to build support for their measures. Senate leadership is
behind their efforts and, if floor time can be spared, will help them
bring the measures up for debate, a GOP leadership aide said.
But in the end, DeMint said, "the president is going to have lead on
it."
"Every indication we've gotten from his staff is that nothing has
changed," he said.
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November 06th, 2005Erica Woodward in the Patrick Henry Herald
November 06th 11:00:18 AM
Opponents of effective social security reform are rejoicing over their apparent success in steamrolling President Bush's privatization initiative. They would be wise, however, not to take this perceived victory for granted. Thanks to grassroots organizations like Students for Saving Social Security (S4), a non-partisan student group with more than 250 chapters in over 48 states nationwide, the proverbial call to arms has been sounded, and the troops are mobilized and ready for battle.
Social security reform is not simply the latest trend for college students seeking a fashionable cause; it is an issue demanding serious attention. While politicians in Washington bury their collective head in the sand, the crisis looms larger and larger. Our generation faces the certainty of an 11 trillion dollar deficit in Social Security unless something is done to restore solvency. As it currently operates, Social Security is a pay-as-you-go program, meaning that the benefits distributed to current retirees are obtained from the payroll taxes of current workers. The mythical “Social Security lockbox” does not exist. Without the incorporation of personal accounts, payroll taxes will be required to increase by 50% or benefits will have to be cut by 25% in order to maintain solvency of any kind. These policies would be devastating to our economy, job market, and wallets! Personal accounts, in contrast, would not only restore freedom of choice—allowing Americans to opt out of the current broken system in favor of any number of private investment plans, varying in levels of risk and rate of return—but would be a boon to American entrepreneurship and productivity.
What most Americans fail to realize is that the system as it currently operates is a gross aberration. Social Security was never intended to become the entrenched third rail of American politics, nor was it meant to serve as simply another Congressional piggybank. Even President Roosevelt, architect of the venerated New Deal, didn’t envision Social Security existing permanently as a federally managed program. The only way to save this floundering enterprise is to enact reforms to reestablish its original intent and function: Give Americans ownership of their retirement savings by incorporating an option for personal accounts!
Students for Saving Social Security has put Washington on notice: We’re not going to stand idly by while our liberty is trampled and our financial future compromised. America’s youth cannot risk the consequences of inaction on this crucial matter.
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Walter Williams asks "Do We Really Care About the Children?"
November 06th 10:50:59 AM
"I cringe with disgust when I hear politicians say, 'We're doing it for the children.' What's worse is so many Americans mindlessly fall hook, line and sinker for the hype. Judging by our actions, Americans could not care less for future generations, and future generations will curse us for it. Let's look at it.
According to several respected authorities, including the Concord Coalition (co-chaired by former Sens. Warren Rudman and Robert Kerrey), the Congressional Budget Office, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow, and the Social Security Administration, the estimated present value of the unfunded liability of Social Security and Medicare ranges between $61 trillion and $75 trillion dollars...
What does all this mean? It means little in pocketbook terms to today's Americans who are 65 years or older. They will collect their Social Security checks and their promised Medicare benefits, but not so for future generations. Here's that future according to House Ways and Means Committee testimony, given by Dr. John Goodman, president of the NCPA (May 2005). 'In 2020, combined Social Security and Medicare deficits will equal almost 29 percent of federal income taxes. At that point the federal government will have to stop doing almost a third of what it does today. By 2030, about the midpoint of the baby boomer retirement years, federal guarantees to Social Security and Medicare will require one in every two income tax dollars. By 2050, they will require three in every four.' And by 2070, Social Security and Medicare will consume all federal revenues...
In 2030, will young people in the labor force be willing to see themselves taxed at Social Security rates of 20, 30 and 40 percent to take care of some old people? I don't think that will politically fly, and they might begin to get ideas about euthanasia. In addition to economic strife, Social Security and Medicare are laying the groundwork for intergenerational conflict. Unfortunately, the politics of today don't give us room to prevent these twin disasters."
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November 04th, 2005Listen Up Everybody!
November 04th 04:35:45 PM
Jo Jensen (S4 Chief of Staff and Mount Holyoke '07) was just
interviewed about the women's Social Security panel at Mount Holyoke
this weekend. The interview was live on WFCR public radio for Western New England and excerpts will be replayed in the news recap every hour on the hour. Listen here!
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2000 Was a Good Year
November 04th 04:24:27 PM
We blogged earlier about how John McCain promised personal accounts during the 2000 campaign, he wasn't the only one, so did Democrat Joe Lieberman.
August 8, 2000
Press reports today indicate that Vice President Gore will select a supporter of personal retirement accounts as his running mate. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), who reports say will be formally invited to join the ticket today, declared in a May 4, 1998 interview that, 'individual control of part of the retirement/Social Security funds has to happen.'
Lieberman is currently chairman of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, whose 1996 ' New Progressive Declaration' on policy reform declared that 'We must... gradually convert Social Security from a transfer program to a new system of individual private savings supplemented by modest public pensions for the needy.'
In the 1998 interview, Lieberman said that 'if we can manage the transition, we have a chance to not only do something right, but to give people more confidence about what their retirement years will be like. Of course, it also dramatically increases our savings rate, which has to be good for our economy overall.'"
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Social Security Simply a Bad Investment
November 04th 10:12:19 AM
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Bush Isn't Going Away Either
November 04th 12:27:02 AM
President Bush continues to talk about the power of ownership because it's true. This week at the Economic Club of Washington:
"One way to spread ownership throughout our society, into neighborhoods where some may not own anything, is to allow (young people) to save some of their own (money)—their choice—in a personal savings account as part of Social Security reform."
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