Posted on 08/14/2005 11:25:10 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D, WI) seized on the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Social Security Act to urge Congress not to cut benefits.
President Bush has suggested allowing workers under age 55 to use a portion of their Social Security taxes for private investments. Democrats are concerned that the changes would also include changing the way benefits are computed.
She pointed to a new study that was authored by the House of Representatives' Committee on Government Reform minority staff. The report argues that Bush's plan would cut benefits to more than 240,000 workers, or 70 percent of wage earners, in Baldwin's Congressional district.
The report said the plan would cut total benefits by more than a combined $18 billion for workers living in Baldwin's district. People between 35-55 would lose $2,110 per year after retirement, the report said. For younger people, they would lose $3,840 per year after retirement, according to the report.
The study was prepared at Baldwin's request.
"The notion that government could play a role in security the well-being of its citizens is one that I value highly," said Baldwin, standing on Bascom Hill at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "And, as a Wisconsinite, I'm tremendously proud that the conceptual underpinnings of Social Security came directly from the Wisconsin Idea."
She noted that UW economist Edwin Witte, who became an adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, based the Social Security program on the ideas of fellow UW researchers.
Witte worked with Arthur Altmeyer, a former UW economist who became assistant secretary of labor under Roosevelt, to develop the program.
She called Social Security "a contract with Americans assuring them that seniors would never again face their final years in poverty."
She noted that Social Security provides more than a cash supplement for seniors. It also provides benefits to people with disabilities, as well as benefits to families with children who have lost a parent.
"No personal or private savings account can provide this type of protection," Baldwin said.
Isen't Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D, WI) a HOMOSEXUAL, Makes ya go HUMMMMM...
They just want more money for illegals.
I really wish she would go BACK in the closet
"She pointed to a new study that was authored by the House of Representatives' Committee on Government Reform minority staff."
The operative words here are "minority staff."
That's make believe talk for losers who have everything to gain by distorting the program.
The Conservatives: "...allow workers under age 55 to use a portion of their Social Security taxes for private investments."
The Democrats: "Democrats are concerned that the changes would also include changing the way benefits are computed."
Read this: reduced benefits and/or increased FICA taxes. What Dems are really worried about: no access to the cash flow of SSI.
Notice the complete lack of references to the Galveston Plan. In a nutshell: completely conservative (low or no risk) investments, i.e. no stocks, just bonds and annuities. The result, after 25 years: recipients of the Galveston are earning anywhere between 2 and 5 times the amount a Galveston worker who opted to stay on SSI receives. And it is THEIR money!
I would rather take my chances with that, because what risk is greater than being helplessly at the whim of a future Congress that can say you will get 50% or 75% of what you were promised?
The Dems like the boogeyman of "risk" but never mention that the risk of staying in, and relying on, SSI is the biggest risk of all.
"The Dems like the boogeyman of "risk" but never mention that the risk of staying in, and relying on, SSI is the biggest risk of all."
Very well stated!
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