A CRISIS OF LEADERSHIP, NOT SOCIAL SECURITY
By: Anne Costello
Date: January 21, 2004
I must confess to being confused about the “crisis” with Social Security. During the past year Vice President Cheney indicated that actual "deficits don't count" and should not be taken into consideration when examining the state of the economy. If that is the case, then why should we worry about potential deficits in the Social Security Trust Fund when the earliest they will occur, if ever, is 2042?
If fiscal sanity does count, then a simple shift in the age of retirement, plus a modest rise in the upper ceiling (people who earn $100,000 or more a year) will repair any breach in the wall. Or put another way, we can mend the system, not potentially end it with the president’s risky proposals.
And, while we're thinking about this, maybe we can look at what "ownership" means. We actually do "own" our Social Security pensions. For many in the president's self declared "Ownership Society," the only retirement benefits they own are the Social Security benefits they receive. Survivor benefits are, while not the same as inheritable wealth, vital to millions of Americans. These things are as real (while not the same) as the "stock certificates" of an "ownership economy."
Anne Costello resides in Buffalo, New York
© Anne Costello, 2005.
The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent those of the WNY Coalition for Progress.
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