By Representative Earl Pomeroy (ND)
Social Security is an issue that has been near and dear to my heart for most of my life and it continues to be one of the issues that I am most passionate about in Congress. My home state of North Dakota has many people that have relied on the guaranteed benefit of Social Security in the past and many that hope to in the future. This is why I’m so concerned about proposals that would jeopardize the future of Social Security.
Instead of preserving Social Security’s guaranteed benefits, some people in Washington want to privatize the program – an unwise move that would make Americans less secure in retirement by reducing Social Security’s guaranteed lifetime benefits. Such proposals do not come cheap, either.
Just to transition to a private system, our country would need to borrow close to $2 trillion. Our budget is already hemorrhaging red ink; racking up trillions more in debt would make Social Security weaker, not stronger. The truth is that Social Security reform funded by federal debt is like funding a personal retirement account on a credit card -- the bill for interest owed wipes out any gains made leaving our kids and grandkids to pick up the check. Our children would be picking up the tab while facing reduced benefits.
Under privatization proposals, a change in the way Social Security payments are calculated would amount to a huge cut in benefits for future retirees. Even in a robust economy, this benefit cut would wipe out almost all income growth generated by the private account portion of the system.
Middle-income workers, for example, would receive 40% less in benefits at retirement under some of these proposals. Paying more and getting less is not the legacy that parents want to hand to their kids.
We’ve seen how important Social Security is to millions of Americans. Our children deserve nothing less than their guaranteed benefits.
