Vested Interest

Bush's Social Security plan is another weapon of mass deception.

by Alisa Simon

Our president is at it again — trying to get us to believe that Social Security is in crisis and that the only way we can save the program is to allow it to be privatized. I gotta tell you, I don't think I trust President Bush to know when there is a crisis. Last time he told us about one, Saddam Hussein was about to take over the world with weapons of mass destruction. Now everyone — including our president — admits that there was no crisis. It was just a little mistake on Bush's part that has killed more than 1,400 Americans, countless Iraqis and spent billions of dollars — oops!

So, according to our president, the new "crisis" is Social Security.

Never mind that Social Security is the most successful anti-poverty program in the history of the United States, or that it supports five million children who have lost parents (including those children whose parents died in 9/11), or that it allows millions of senior citizens to buy food and pay their rent. Let's just get to what Bush wants to do — allow young whippersnappers like me to invest a percentage of that Social Security money in the stock market rather than give it to Uncle Sam.

Problem number one is that allowing young folks to take their money out of Social Security leaves the program, which supports our grandparents and parents, with $2 trillion less than is needed. So, Bush's proposal to privatize Social Security begins by borrowing more than $2 trillion from the federal treasury. Now, you might say, "Who cares? A trillion dollars or two won't hurt anyone." But that's where you're wrong. To get a sense of how much one trillion is, think about this: If you received a million dollars every day since the day Christ was born, (for the sake of argument, let's just assume Christ was born on December 25, 0000), you'd only have around $740 billion.

Problem number two is that if young workers like me don't invest well, we are going to be in big trouble when we retire. Maybe you would make smart investments — you seem like an intelligent person. But, unfortunately, many of us will choose bad investments (like, say Enron or WorldCom), and unless you want a bunch of homeless senior citizens camped out in front of your suburban McMansion, you are somehow going to have to bail the rest of us out. For those of you who are savvy investors, the good news is that you already have a way to save for your retirement. It's called your 401(k). So, feel free to invest away so that you can buy that yacht when you retire — just don't take away Social Security from the rest of us.

Now for some more good news — Social Security isn't really in a crisis at all. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Social Security trust funds won't be depleted until 2052. Even after that, people will still be able to count on receiving 78 percent of their scheduled benefits. And that is if we do NOTHING. So, if we want to ensure that Social Security pays us our full benefit, the program just needs a little bit of tweaking.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what needs to be done — which is good given who is in power. Currently, people who make millions of dollars a year pay the same amount of Social Security tax as folks who make $90,000, because Social Security doesn't tax income over $90,000. All we would have to do is ask the nice rich people to help pay for Social Security and the system would be fine.

President Bush has had a few terrible ideas in his four years as commander in chief of the United States. But privatizing Social Security is one of the worst. So wise up, fellow young adults of America! Don't let the president scare you into a risky retirement scheme that will hurt you and your elders, based on a Social Security "crisis" that — like those pesky WMDs — just isn't there.

Alisa Simon is health director for Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth. If you would like to respond to this Slant or have one of your own (750 words), contact Duane Swierczynski, Editor in chief, City Paper, 123 Chestnut St., Third floor, Phila., PA 19106 or e-mail Duane Swierczynski.

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