I oppose privatizing Social Security because it is the wrong choice for American workers. I am committed to strengthening and preserving Social Security.
President Bush is once again using scare tactics to try to convince the American people that Social Security is in danger, and his solution is to tear the program apart. Social Security has offered a priceless assurance that those who have spent their lives working hard will receive guaranteed benefits. This safety net must not be destroyed by risky investments in an often volatile and always unpredictable stock market.
President Bush should level with the American people and admit that there is no imminent crisis facing Social Security. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Social Security will be able to pay full guaranteed benefits for all participants for nearly 50 years; and, even after that, it will still be able to pay 80 percent of all benefits.
Congress must work in a bipartisan manner to modernize Social Security and prevent any future cuts in benefits, but we should not destroy a program that has well served the American people for the past 70 years.
Too many seniors, particularly those with lower incomes, have difficulties saving for their retirements. The Bush Administration would like you to think that because Social Security privatization gives individuals more control over their savings, this will lead to increased retirement benefits. However, if retirement planning were this simple, there would never have been any need to create the Social Security program.
Stock market returns are never guaranteed, as we realized between 2001 and 2003, when the NASDAQ lost 75 percent of its value. Relying on risky financial markets to acquire a secure retirement is not the answer. A comfortable retirement rests on a three-legged stool: pensions, personal savings and Social Security. Social Security is the most reliable leg of that stool and continues to be the foundation for a secure retirement.
The Bush Administration fails to explain how private Social Security accounts will increase retirement benefits or effect disability benefits; and nothing has been said about what will happen to those who choose not to invest in private accounts.
Bush has also failed to address the fact that all seniors will lose Social Security benefits because setting up the private accounts would cost $754 billion by 2015 and trillions of dollars afterwards. It is morally wrong to make today’s workers bear the transition costs of switching to privatized Social Security accounts.
In an effort to proactively protect the retirement security of Americans, I recently introduced legislation to establish federal standards that will ensure that investment brokers share the liability for losses in privatized Social Security accounts. I will fight to attach this important safeguard to any proposal providing for private accounts as part of, or supplemental to, Social Security.
The investment community strongly supports privatization because brokers and fund managers stand to make billions in fees off of privatized Social Security accounts. My legislation will encourage the investment community to act responsibly and minimize the risks they take with private Social Security accounts.
I will continue fighting to ensure the future solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund and guarantee that today’s workforce receives the benefits they are promised. Private accounts do nothing to strengthen Social Security; however, they have the potential to weaken it by paying for fees and investment losses.
I will not contribute to the destruction of this invaluable retirement program by supporting risky privatization schemes. Social Security reflects one of America’s core values, that those who have worked hard and sacrificed for our nation’s progress deserve economic security during their golden years. I will fight to save, strengthen and secure the Social Security program for America’s next generation.