- Originally published in the Argus on February 28, 2005 [here]
By Barbara LEE
THERE is something fundamentally dishonest about the debate that
is going on in our country about Social Security. Listening to recent
talk about looming threats and higher returns, it would be easy to get
the impression that protecting the future solvency of Social Security
and privatizing the program to create private accounts are more or less
the same thing. Sadly, that couldn't be further from the truth. You
cannot extend Social Security's guaranteed benefit to future
generations by converting it into a risky investment scheme.
Social Security is by far the most successful anti-poverty
program our government has ever created. Without it, 48 percent of
seniors would live in poverty. Social Security's remarkable success is
based on the simple principle that workers contribute to the system and
earn a guaranteed, defined benefit that is paid to them when they
retire or if they become disabled, or to dependent family members in
the event that they should die.
People are rightly concerned that we take appropriate steps to
ensure that Social Security's guaranteed benefit is extended to future
generations.
Unfortunately, that is not what the president wants to do.
All the talk of crisis is just a smokescreen. The president's
proposal would actually make the solvency issue worse and turn a
guaranteed benefit into a guaranteed gamble.
People should understand that the centerpiece of what the
president has proposed, diverting funds from payroll taxes to create
private accounts, does nothing to address his so-called "crisis." By
diverting $2 trillion from the Trust Fund in the first decade to pay
for these accounts, it actually makes matters much worse.
The president's proposal would undermine retirement security for
all Americans by cutting Social Security's guaranteed benefit by almost
50 percent.
The president's commission on Social Security has recommended
cutting benefits to disabled workers to pay for private accounts.
Disabled workers would have no access to their private accounts prior
to retirement, and because their careers were cut short, would reach
retirement with virtually nothing in those accounts.
The proposed benefit cuts are especially hard on minorities and women.
Because minorities are more likely to become disabled or die
young, cuts in disability and survivor benefits would have a
devastating impact on minority communities, particularly on children.
Without Social Security, 53 percent of senior women would live in
poverty. Because women, on average, have lower salaries and longer life
spans than men, under the president's proposal they would have to make
smaller private accounts last longer.
It is hard to justify these kinds of cuts knowing that the
creation of private accounts would divert almost $1 trillion in
transaction fees into the pockets of big corporate interests on Wall
Street.
It is time for an honest national debate about the future of
Social Security. Social Security faces a challenge, not a crisis. A
crisis is what the millions of people who benefit from Social Security
will face if the president succeeds in his campaign to privatize this
vital American safety net.
- Rep. Barbara Lee represents the Ninth Congressional District.