Skip to main content

Social Security - Young Democrats of Adams County Response



After careful consideration of President Bush’s State of the Union address and his subsequent speeches on the matter, I humbly submit a response from the Democratic youth who may someday come to rely upon the program he, and other anti-Social Security Republicans like Senator Santorum, threaten with these dangerous changes.

First off, I actually agree with Senator Santorum, who said about one of the President’s speeches, "I think it was an attempt to reassure younger as well as older workers that his plan was safe."

The President's words, in fact, serve as no reassurance to this younger worker. The Republican leadership is counting on younger workers not to listen to everything being said, and to only hear the false, but attractive, "keep your own money" mantra.

The initial concern among many of us critics was that those who gained in our investments by our retirement would end up needing to support those who lost in their investments, and that only those involved in the investment process - the traders, the funds, etc., would surely win.

However, now that the Bush plan has been unvieled, it is now known that we will not get to do what we wish with our money, as implied, as investments will be limited to government restricted and approved bonds and stocks.

This is simply the government taking the money they would currently pay to beneficiaries and placing it into a select group of investments (Hopefully the government does not approve Enron, Halliburton, Arbusto, War Bonds or the Money Market).

In either case, the social contract of Social Security - to provide a safety net against senior citizen poverty by having the gainfully employed paying the benefits for today's retiree's - with the promise that their children will do the same when they retire - will be broken. It is not, and never has been intended as, an investment program for retirement.

While many retirees may very well enjoy working part time, at WalMart or in fast food dining rooms, many do so to avoid the choice between prescription drugs, food or independent living.

Placing money into seperate accounts will "starve the beast" as those who are against Social Security call it, and make some money for fund managers on the side (despite the assurances to the contrary).

It is so immoral for President Bush to propose such a flawed and dangerous expansion in the complexities and costs of withholding that introducing such sillyness has cause people in his own party to be, "struck with fear".

A Better Plan:

Use any surplus of Social Security funds to pay off the national debt, as former Vice President Gore once proposed. Doing so grows the "lockbox" that is the Social Security. This secures the combined savings power without the risk of a higher burden on the younger generations from the obligations to those not so fortunate in their investments.

We should continue paying Social Security payments out of the current fund, and commit to the program while implementing the necessary changes to keep Social Security solvent. Among possible changes are raising the annual contribution limit (adjusted for inflation) and adjusting the scale of benefits based on current income.

Finally, we need to return to overall fiscal discipline and balanced budgets so that we can pay off our national debts, including the Social Security bonds when they come due.

----------------
Councilman Herb Riede
President
Young Democrats of Adams County
http://www.youngadamsdemocrats.com/

http://www.herbriede.com/
http://www.mcsherrystown.net/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thank You to All Who Voted

EDITED December 21, 2010: In September 2009 I moved to Meadville to be closer to ailing family. This was a decision that is still sometimes difficult. My old 717 cell phone number was assigned to someone else, and the new person began receiving calls relating to my business at all hours. To reduce this, I am redacting my old 717 home and cell phone numbers from this post, as they are not my current numbers. Please visit www.facebook.com/herbriede for up to date contact information. In addition, I discontinued my mayoral website in 2010. To avoid confusion, I have removed the link to this as well. I miss McSherrystown, my girls miss it, they grew up there, and it is a good place to live. - Herb === My wife, my mother and I wish to say thank you to all of those people we met while greeting voters at the polls. As your next Mayor, I take the position of Mayor seriously. I ran on establishing 24 hour police protection and making the roads safer for pedestrians and drive...
Post a Comment
Read more

Evening Sun - Former McSherrystown mayor remembered

Evening Sun - Former McSherrystown mayor remembered : Former McSherrystown mayor remembered By ASHLEY ADAMS Evening Sun Reporter Article Launched: 08/29/2007 10:17:36 AM EDT Most people knew him as the mayor of McSherrystown. To some, he was just plain "Moe." To his family, he was a dedicated husband, father and grandfather. But for everyone who came into contact with Cyril T. Noel, he was a trustworthy, generous and dependable man who gave to his family and community without expecting anything in return. Noel died Saturday at York Hospital at the age of 82. "We really are going to miss him because he was our rock," said his wife, Frances Noel. Cyril lived in McSherrystown his whole life and, as a young boy, acquired the "Moe" moniker. "Everyone has a nickname in McSherrystown," said his son, David Noel. "That's just how they did it." Frances said Cyril never liked his given name. He even had an uncle who would call him ...
Post a Comment
Read more

//IMHO// The Occupy Movement's goal? - A Constitutional Amendment, Perhaps?

Have you actually read the Occupy Declaration ? I don't think the goal is just fixing what has gone wrong by making people pay their fair share and getting people back to work and general economic and social fairness, but fixing it permanently. The declaration says "THEY" often. Who are "THEY"? It's not Millionaires - it's CORPORATIONS. What action would permanently address every point in the Declaration?? Perhaps a constitutional amendment permanently reversing parts of, any or all Supreme Court " Corporate Personhood " decisions: - Citizens United v. FEC - Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad - Dartmouth College v. Woodward is required. Specifically, I can imagine demands/effects such as: - The ability of a state to revoke a corporate charter (Corporate death penalty) - The invalidation of Corporate "personhood" and revocation of all Constitutional protections given to corporations given to people unles...
Post a Comment
Read more