Node Of Evil - Fair And Balanced Reporting

Thursday, February 17, 2005

 
I'm not normally the economically-minded side of the Node, but there is an issue I am particularly concerned about. Here is a letter I sent to President Bush to express my concern about his so-called "plans" for Social Security:


Dear President Bush:

Sir, I do not understand why you continue to be dishonest in your approach towards Social Security. If the system is in such bad shape, why then do you have no plan? It is obvious to us Americans that your commitment to reforming the system is less than one hundred percent because you won't come out and say what, exactly, you want to do to "fix" the system.

If what I'm hearing and reading in the press is true, it seems like all the things that may or may not constitute your "plan" are actually harmful to the financial future of Social Security. By that I mean you do not seem committed to "fixing" the system, rather you want to cut benefits as an admission that the system cannot be "fixed". That, to me, seems like a cowardly approach to the problem. What do you mean when you say the U.S. Government cannot make its promised paymets to U.S. workers like me? I've been working on and off since I was 14 (I'm now 29) and I fully expect for the government to keep its promise with respect to Social Security. Otherwise, I expect an honest explanation as to why I cannot expect to receive the promised benefits when I retire and I'd like to know what you're going to do to make sure that doesn't happen. I hope by that time to have made enough money with my private savings to not need Social Security, but in case my investments go south or something really bad happens to the U.S. economy then I want to have the security of knowing that my contributions have secured some income to keep me out of poverty. That's what I expected, until you came along and tried to tell me that Social Security was "broken" and needed to be "fixed". I fear, sir, that your unwillingness to propose a plan and stand behind it is only a cover for your real intentions, which are to deprive me of my promised benefits.

Millions of other twenty-somethings like me fully expect to receive their Social Security benefits when we retire. I hope you do not discount our interests. I also hope that you keep the promise Ronald Reagan made to younger workers like me when he said:

"...we promised to attend to the needs of those still working, not only those Americans nearing retirement but young people just entering the labor force." (source: http://www.ssa.gov/history/reaganstmts.html#1983)

Andrew 3:57 PM : |

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