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Hands Off Our Social Security!

It's hard to imagine why anyone would want to change the basic structure of Social Security. The current system is cleverly engineered to serve a variety of important purposes: protection from poverty; insurance against lost income due to a worker's death, disability or retirement; aid for orphaned children; independence for aging parents; dignity for widows.

For over 70 years, the system has been a pillar of our national economy — providing income to millions, even at times when the job market and the stock market have failed us miserably.

WE NEED IT. One reason the system has worked so well is that Americans want it to succeed. We need it and most of us know we do. So any time Social Security has encountered problems, the people and Congress have made sure that the necessary corrections were made. No drastic restructuring; no slashing of benefits — just a modest change here and there so the system keeps rolling.

Soon, Social Security will require another round of mid-course corrections. According to its trustees, the system will start showing a shortfall in 2041. At that point, even without changes, the trustees say Social Security payroll contributions will cover 73 percent of all scheduled benefits. The remaining shortfall is a problem, but a manageable one — no more serious than some of the other problems the system has encountered over the last 70 years.

VALUABLE SYSTEM. Unfortunately, some people just don't "get" Social Security. When it comes to providing for retirement, they think it should be "every man for himself." So, they're capitalizing on Social Security's long-range problems to win support for revamping the system — hoping to turn it into one in which individuals invest in the stock market instead of Social Security's group insurance pool.

President Bush is one of those who doesn't quite understand Social Security's special role in the lives of American families. He believes workers can do a better job on their own — individually investing our payroll contributions in private accounts.

NO SALE. But as the President has crisscrossed the country trying to sell his plan to privatize Social Security, polls show that virtually no one is buying it. Look at these responses to a New York Times/CBS survey conducted in June:

  • 80 percent believed it's the government's responsibility to provide "a decent retirement for the elderly";
  • 75 percent felt the stock market is "generally risky";
  • only 18 percent thought most people would profit from Social Security private accounts;
  • 50 percent said they weren't confident in their own ability to make good investment decisions.

Clearly, the recent stock market crash has taken its toll on public confidence, but it hasn't deterred the President. He says he will continue to fight for Social Security private accounts until his last day in office.

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