August 22, 2001, 9-11 a.m.
Marquette Room, Loews Hotel, L’Enfant Plaza
Contact: Hugh Newton 703-807-2070

Washington, DC– The head of the first national senior citizens organization to call for personalization of the 66-year-old Social Security system today called on Congressional Democrats to “stop scaring seniors for political gain.”

60 Plus Association President Jim Martin said at a press conference to endorse Social Security reform: “As for the false charge that President Bush and his allies are dipping into Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds, I don’t believe for a second that President Bush will violate his promise to protect the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds. But even if it came to pass that $3 billion or so– about 2% of the trust funds– was used to pay for other programs, I remind the Democrats that the remaining 98% is 100% more than they ever set aside when they were in charge of the purse strings. They spent every dime on non-Social Security items!”

These phony charges recall the assertion that one party has ridden the ‘twin horses of hypocrisy– Social Security and Medi-Scare– for more than 30 years.’

As for these twin horses of hypocrisy, it wasn’t a Republican who said he was “embarrassed as a Democrat to see a Democratic President use Social Security scare tactics.” It was the late Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas. And it wasn’t The Washington Times that said Democrats were ‘demagoguing Medicare– big time’ in two editorials in 1995. It was The Washington Post, September 15th and September 25th, taking Representative Dick Gephardt to task.

So these are crocodile tears, the height of hypocrisy, stirring up and scaring seniors. Shameless hyperbole that should be stopped!

When I came to Washington in 1962 as a young newspaper reporter, John F. Kennedy was in the White House, Neil Armstrong had yet to walk on the moon, Strom Thurmond was still a Democrat and only Barry Goldwater seemed to perceive the looming crisis facing Social Security.

The Arizona Senator was 30 years ahead of his time and now responsible members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are working to craft a plan to save Social Security for the future.

President George W. Bush is the very first White House occupant ever to have the courage to take on this issue.

He refused the ‘head in the sand, there’s no problem’ approach, and he’s fulfilling his campaign promise to work to save Social Security for future generations. Senior citizens applaud the President for having the courage of his convictions.

While the pay as you go system has worked well, the shifting demographics have put it on a collision course with reality. Look at the facts. It started in 1935 with a 2%tax on $3000 income, a mere $60 per year, which was paid by some 40 workers to support each retiree. However, seniors ‘conveniently died’ as it has been rather indelicately put, at about 65, thus there was no real need to increase the 2% tax.

The tax is now 12.4% on $80,400, extracting as much as a whopping $9,969.60 from each worker. But instead of 40 wage earners paying up to that amount to support each retiree, only an average of three provide these revenues due to lower birth rates. If we seniors still ‘conveniently died’ at about age 65, this would be enough.

But seniors are now living well into their 80’s, 90’s and beyond. My favorite senior, my mom, is in her mid-80’s and my second favorite senior, my stepfather, is a tri-centurion, born in the 19th century and who’s lived through the entire 20th century and this September 25 will, God willing, celebrate his 102nd birthday in the 21st century!

In a nutshell, that causes today’s financial strain on the system.

Twenty years ago, Dr. Jose Pinera fathered the current program in Chile which allows fund managers to invest a portion of their taxes in the name of individual workers, a program which more than 90% have joined voluntarily.

More than a dozen countries in South America, Europe, and Asia have followed suit. Even socialist Sweden and communist China are going that route.

It’s long past time for the U.S. to do likewise and move into the 21st century. Let’s stop scaring seniors for political gain. If seniors are assured that Social Security is there for them, they’ll be the first to say ‘let’s roll up our sleeves and fix the system for future retirees, our children and grandchildren!’

It’s time to provide a new and improved Social Security system for the next generation of seniors.

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