Social Security: Call it insurance (Des Moines Register)

[struggle4progress]

By REGISTER EDITORIAL BOARD

February 21, 2005
The debate over Social Security might simmer down a little if everyone understood the program and started calling it by its formal name. It's Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI).

Note the word insurance.

Social Security is not a retirement-savings program and was never meant to be. It is insurance, and it's not just for retired people. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin reminded everyone of that last week when he asked how payments to disabled workers would be affected by President Bush's plan to partially privatize Social Security.

No one knows the answer, because plan specifics have not been unveiled. <snip>

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050221/OPINION03/502210308/1035/OPINION

[BrklynLiberal]

1. That hits it right on the head. All the discussions never mention the

survivors and disability aspects, and how that would be handled under the Bush dismantling procedures!

[pstans]

2. Right on!

Keep on talking Harkin. He is my senator and I love it. People need to realize that Social Security is a welfare program and just for insurance and not a retirement plan. That is why we have 401k's and IRA's.

If people had jobs where they could invest money and didn't have to spend years and years paying student loans then they could afford retirement accounts.

[Patchuli]

3. Correct me if I'm wrong

but if Social Security is paid for by the recipients, is it still
considered "welfare?" Because I thought welfare was something paid
for from taxes and not earned by the unfortunate who needs it? I'd
hate to think that after paying into the SS system for over 30 years,
I'm just a welfare recipient when I'm old enough to draw it!

[davidgmills]

4. Someone finally gets it -- that it is insurance

Not an investment.

On most insurance you don't even get the premiums back. You hope that you never need to use it.

SS is a little different. You hope that you get to use the old age benefits but never the survivors benefits or the disability benefits.

[Selatius]

5. FDR should've called it Social Security Insurance program

Maybe if the corporatists are defeated, we can then change the name to Social Security Insurance program to defuse this "retirement-investment" propaganda nonsense permanently.