Interesting op-ed on Social Security by Jeffrey Lewis (Pres of Heinz Philanthropies)

[MH1]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07028/757141-109.stm

Elected embezzlers

JEFFREY R. LEWIS says Congress should stop stealing from Social Security and fix it - or give us back our money

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Sen. Pat Moynihan, D-N.Y., liked to call it "thievery." Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., called it deceit. My old boss, Pennsylvania Sen. John Heinz called it "embezzlement." To which felonious act was this bipartisan cast of senior senators referring? To Congress raiding the Social Security Trust Fund -- meant to fund our retirements decades from now -- so that it could hide trillions of dollars in government spending.

(snip)

When it comes to keeping our commitments to seniors and taxpayers, members of Congress need to ask themselves: Can 2007 be the year the pilferage finally stops? Do we have the will to stop looking for quick fixes like personal retirement accounts and make the real changes Social Security needs? Shouldn't the system be fairer to women? And, finally, if we can't do these things, shouldn't we just repeal that portion of our Social Security taxes that are being pilfered -- and give the money back to the American people?

(snip)

Speaking of a "plan" introduced by Jeff Sessions, Lewis notes:

It sounds reasonable, at first. But, just as there's no free lunch, there's no free retirement. Certain to cost tens of billions of dollars initially, the Sessions plan could easily run into hundreds of billions of dollars over the next few decades. Yet, Sen. Sessions has offered no funding plan, no recognition of our other commitments and no acknowledgement of the budget shortfalls the existing system faces.

But the plan does raise a curious question: If we can find common ground to raise payroll withholding taxes to fund new personal accounts, why can't we do so to shore up Social Security? Surely we should fix one system before we create another.

Yes, Sessions' plan would require funding, which means raising taxes, presumably payroll taxes as Lewis states.

At first read, I didn't like Lewis' emphatic suggestion that taxes should be refunded if Congress can't agree on a way to fix Social Security. I think republicans would be all too eager to jump on that suggestion. OTOH, I think he is just saying that it would make more sense than Sessions' plan. And THAT I agree with wholeheartedly.


Jeffrey R. Lewis is President of the http://www.hfp.heinz.org/index.html">Heinz Family Philanthropies (Teresa Heinz Kerry is Chairman.)

[karynnj]

1. I am so glad someone is saying this

All of us paid mor in since the mid 1980s to insure it would be there for the completely predictable retirement of the babyboomers. Several years ago, I heard Greenspan speak about this saying essentially - the money is gone spent, get used to it. (Not in those words - it was long mumbled and, of course, too no responsibility for supporting Bush's tax cuts.)

This is great - it is a committment.

[sandnsea]

2. Fix it or give me back my money

I swear to god nothing pisses me off more than how much money I've paid into social security only to be told that what's due me is worthless IOU's. They took that money and gave it to the rich with their tax cuts, just like this guy says. He's also right that we don't really have a social security problem in-so-much as we have a robbing Peter to pay Paul problem, and a bankrupt government without those FICA taxes. Then for low-income working people to be told they don't pay taxes??? Aargh.

I'm just glad somebody finally said it in plain English.

[ray of light]

3. my dad died a year before retirement. He lost '10's of thousands'

to the social security system. Why? Because he wasn't married--though he had a common law wife--and his kids were just out of college.

So they got lots of money from him to keep it solvent.

(snark)

[MH1]

4. Although he doesn't talk about it specifically,

I think those are some of the kinds of inequities that Lewis is talking about.

Also, there are people who are never even covered by the system, and they kind of fall through the cracks because the average service provider thinks EVERY elderly person gets SS and Medicare. 'taint so.

[ProSense]

5. Excellent article!

I'm glad Lewis asked the question and it is a curious one. Why on earth are they so determined to reinvent the wheel?

[MH1]

6. Why? My theory is that it would make somebody happy on Wall Street.

If people are automatically having money put into 401K type accounts, then someone has to manage those accounts, plus all that money flowing into the market props up the numbers until the effect stabilizes - making the current administration look good as well.

[karynnj]

7. exactly

I also think the idea is less popular since the internet bubble burst. When Bush spoke of it in 2000, people had yet to see the huge bubble numbers crash to reality.

[karendc]

8. Bingo.

This article talks sense!

We need to spread it around.