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Getting Published
September 19th 11:58:01 PM
S4's had some good Op-Eds published lately. One in the Cincinnati Enquirer urges Congress to move forward on a reform agenda. Chris Liakos also got an Op-Ed published recently. His appeared in the Atlanta Journal Constitution (registration required). You can read on to read all of Chris's editorial.
In a Sept. 8 speech to the Alliance of Retired Americans, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) politicized Hurricane Katrina to undermine President Bush's plan for personal retirement accounts.
In reference to a future disaster, "People would say, 'What am I going to do? Can I count on Social Security?' " Clinton said. "And the answer would be, well, we'll have to check on the stock market."
What Clinton either fails to notice (or fails to disclose) is that with personal retirement accounts, unlike the current system, the people who died in the hurricane would have had something to pass on to their children and grandchildren.
Everyone knows that politicians rob the so-called Social Security "trust fund" to pay for their own pet projects. Opposition to personal retirement accounts does not stem from a true fear of retirees losing their money. Such a fear is irrational.
The stock market has had a long history of growth. In truth, the opposition to retirement accounts comes from politicians who will no longer have access to your "trust fund."
When Social Security was started in 1935, 16 workers supported every retiree. Today, those numbers have shrunk to three workers per retiree. And it gets worse. In 2017 — just 12 years from now — Social Security will pay out more than it takes in. This difference will have to be made up by dipping into other government spending, raising taxes or cutting benefits.
Private accounts would give all workers access to stock market growth. Creating a nest egg would also give workers something to pass on to their families when they die.
Students today look at the current system and cringe. Why shouldn't they? They need to act, and quickly, if they want to see benefits in the future.
Posted by Chris Schrimpf
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