Third Millennium
121 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 505
New York, NY 10013-1510
Ph: 212.226.2077
E-mail: thirdmil@juno.com
WASHINGTON, DC OFFICE
1401 17 Street, Suite 213, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Ph: 202.939.0077
Website: http://www.thirdmil.org
Questions for President Clinton
From Richard Thau and Heather Lamm
Executive Director and Chairperson, respectively, of Third Millennium
December 8, 1998
Rather than making a statement, we have several questions for
President Clinton:
- Today's workers pay the highest FICA taxes in American history,
as much as $8,482 per year. At the same time, the Social Security
trustees project that the program will be able to pay only 75% of
promised benefits by the time our generation retires in the 2030's.
Do you believe this represents an inherent unfairness built into
the Social Security system, and if so, how do you plan to remedy
it?
- Some people suggest raising the FICA tax by 2.2 percentage points
as a way to save Social Security. For a self-employed worker earning
$30,000, such an increase would mean an additional $660 in payroll
taxes over and above his/her current $3,720 annual contribution.
Do you support or oppose any tax increase in FICA (including an
increase in the cap on taxable wages)?
- A male turning 65 this year has a 50-50 chance of living to 80
years of age. The female turning 65 this year has a 50-50 chance
of living to 84. Many people in our generation (born in the 1960s
and 70s) could reasonably expect to live into their 90s. With
increasing lifespans, do you believe:
- that people should work longer, and the eligibility age for
Social Security should be raised to 70 for people under 50, or even
indexed to average lifespan?
- that people who can expect to spend l/3 of their lives as senior
citizens should be required to pre-fund some of their retirement
needs? And if so, do you think the most effective way to create a
nation of savers is to convert a small portion of Social Security
into a defined contribution plan?
- If you agree with your 1994-96 Social Security Advisory Council
that a portion of Social Security contributions should be invested
in the capital markets, do you believe that the Federal government
should do the stock picking collectively for everyone, or that
individuals should have a personal account and a choice of where
to invest their funds?
- If Social Security did not exist, and you had to create it from
scratch as President Roosevelt and Congress did in 1935, would such
a program include a personal account component?
- Which constituency is more important in this discussion: those
who pay the FICA taxes or those who receive the Social Security
benefits?
- Do you believe that rate of return, measured across generations,
is a fair way to gauge the fairness of Social Security? If so, are
you concerned that today's young adults and future generations are
expected to get a lower rate of return than older generations?
|
