The 60 Plus Association
1655 N. Fort Myer Drive, Suite 355
Arlington, VA 22209
Phone (703) 807-2070
Fax (703) 807-2073
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Senior Voice Newsletter
James L. Martin, President
Roger H. Zion (R-IN, 1967-75), Honorary Chairman
SAVING SOCIAL SECURITY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
IT'S SAFE FOR TODAY'S SENIORS
STATEMENT OF JAMES L. MARTIN, PRESIDENT OF THE 60 PLUS ASSOCIATION,
FOR THE WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL SECURITY,
DECEMBER 8-9,1998
The 60 Plus Association, a nonpartisan senior citizens advocacy
group, commends the President's year-long efforts to highlight
Social Security reform, and today's White House Conference on Social
Security is part of his plan. 60 Plus is pleased to join these
efforts to save Social Security, and we look forward to the
President's particular plan to strengthen and save the system for
future generations.
We seniors know the system is safe for us. But the 75 million baby
boomers and the millions of 20 and 30 year olds, the Generation
Xers, wait literally with bated breaths for the President's plan
to save and strengthen Social Security. The importance of the
President's plan cannot be over-emphasized, because while responsible
Republicans and Democrats offer positive proposals to save Social
Security, clearly the President's leadership will be needed before
we can arrive at a final solution.
As the Commissioner of Social Security, Kenneth Apfel, said in a
major address before the National Press Club last week, we must
stop throwing "political hand grenades" on Social Security and work
together with common purpose and determination. We agree.
We have a window of opportunity early in the 106th Congress to put
Social Security on a strong footing for future generations. The
system is like a time bomb, ready to explode. Surely, we must put
partisan politics aside. We must act in a nonpartisan manner.
Why did a seniors organization such as the 60 Plus Association get
involved in this matter? It would be easy for us to take an
ostrich-like approach and hide our heads in the sand, ignoring the
issue. Yet, we are not just "greedy old geezers" with a "gimme,
gimme, gimme" mentality, as we're wrongly portrayed. We are genuinely
concerned with the future of the program and the well-being of all
our citizens, not only our current seniors but those who will become
seniors one day in the future.
The group I represent is called 60 Plus and I'm 60 plus in age and
I still rely on my favorite senior for advice and she's 80 plus--my
mom, my sainted mom if you will, Mary L. Martin, who still works
part-time. She notes that seniors most valuable assets are not just
their social security, their retirement income or pensions, though
these are high on their list, but it's their children, their
grandchildren, and their great grandchildren. She adds that while
Social Security is safe for seniors, it needs to be protected so
it is there for her other assets, her children and grandchildren,
future retirees.
We believe that the best approach for saving the system is adopting
the commonsense approach of privatizing or, as I prefer to call
it, "personalizing" Social Security, a description borrowed from
Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-NE), a leading expert on Social Security reform.
This approach, despite the cry of the status quo seekers, is not
going to ruin Social Security but will, I truly believe, save it.
We advocate taking part of the payroll tax, paid by employer and
employee (except for the self-employed who bear the entire burden)
and investing these funds in personal retirement accounts (PRAs).
These accounts will be economically productive and enable workers
to receive much more than the meager 1 or 2 percent return they
can now expect to receive from Social Security. The returns are
likely to be 2 or 3 times larger, at a minimum.
We have the example of the nation of Chile which had a Social
Security system facing insolvency. A reform was adopted by Dr.
Jose Pinera in 1981 and we have had 15 years to witness the success
of that program--safe and secure retirement for workers, better
returns on money invested for retirement, and a system contributing
to the nation's economic growth because of the money invested in
the stock market. There are regulations so that a safety net is
provided and only prudent investments are allowed by the
government-regulated firms.
Chile is not alone. More than half a dozen nations have followed
suit in Latin America. Others, such as Australia, the United Kingdom,
and, even Communist China, have devised a method for personal
retirement accounts. The United States needs to board this train
before it leaves the station.
Seniors will back reform. We polled our seniors and found that by
a 3 to 1 margin they favored a form of personalization. We then
commissioned a national polling firm to conduct a survey beyond
our membership and its findings confirmed that seniors back
"personalization".
It has been too easy for politicians to demagogue this issue. We
need a nonpartisan cooperative effort for real meaningful and
lasting reform--and the President must lead that effort.
The 60 Plus Association urges: While it's safe for today's seniors,
we must save Social Security for future generations. Debate It,
Don't Demagogue It! Let us move toward personal retirement accounts
(PRAs) so individuals, like those workers in Chile, will have their
own passport of savings toward retirement and will enjoy the fruits
of a growing economy reform.
In conclusion, Commissioner Apfel, in his address before the National
Press Club, reminded us to work together with common purpose and
determination, that just as lightning makes no sound until it
strikes, we should recognize that there are rumblings on the horizon
and we must act now to make the changes to keep Social Security
strong into the 21st century.
Commissioner Apfel also quoted Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
(D-NY) as reminding us that if we leave Social Security unchanged,
that in 30 years time Social Security as we have known it since
1935 will have vanished. We need to reflect back on the origins of
Social Security, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into
law the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935. The 60 Plus
Association is the first seniors organization to urge personal
retirement accounts (PRAs) in keeping with the original intent of
Social Security to help seniors out of poverty.
On May 2, 1997, the FDR Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.
What more lasting commemoration to FDR can we embrace than the
adoption of personal retirement accounts (PRAs) which will save
Social Security for a new age, a new era, and a new generation.
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