Posted on 01/23/2005 9:59:48 AM PST by ReleaseTheHounds
The American Association of Retired People is the biggest obstacle to President Bush’s plan to modernize Social Security to include individual savings accounts for younger workers. The Wall Street Journal recently wrote that the AARP is “dead set against” Social Security reform. AARP has already launched a $5 million plan to scare older Americans into believing that the President’s proposal is dangerous and will steal Social Security benefits from current retirees.
But this is a misleading argument at best. President Bush has explicitly stated that he will not cut benefits for current retirees. Current beneficiaries have nothing to worry about from President Bush’s Social Security reform proposals. Still, that hasn’t stopped the AARP from waging a campaign to mislead citizens and rally its’ 35 million members.
So why does the AARP oppose Social Security reform? It seems that the AARP has a single public policy agenda – to lobby Congress to provide ever more subsidies to the retired community. What that really means is transfer wealth from the young to the old.
Is that what most of our older Americans really want? Is that what’s really best for our country? Certainly many older Americans would support President Bush’s proposal to give young Americans a chance to own their own retirement savings – a chance to pursue the American dream of savings and accruing wealth over the course of their working life.
Here’s what you can do. Visit www.NoThanksAARP.com and sign the petition, stating that you pledge to never become a member of the AARP.
Once you’ve signed the petition, we urge you to educate current AARP members about the facts on Social Security reform: educate them about how the AARP is trying to stop the President Bush’s reform proposal. Tell them how AARP is trying to kill a reform that will improve the lives and futures of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
You can also tell them to quit the AARP by Calling 1-888-687-2277: Urge them to: “Tell the AARP that I no longer want to be a member of the AARP since they oppose Social Security reform. Tell the AARP that I care about the future of your grandchildren and great-grandchildren!”
The goal of this petition is to show the members of Congress that Americans are sick and tired of the AARP’s scare tactics. President Bush has courageously decided to strengthen and modernize Social Security to provide a better deal for young Americans. We can’t afford to let the Greedy AARP stop this important initiative!
Well, it's in the courts now. But even with the changes they want to make, my 'group' was excluded - it was new employees after a certain date. And it all comes down to how the courts interpret whether or not the plan I was hired under amounts to a contract.
But SS is NOT a contract, & it's reasonable to modify it. Particularly when we know the elderly are one of the most prosperous groups in the country right now. My mother's neighbor (age close to 80) was complaining about how 'Bush was planning to take away her SS'. This gal owns land that would probably sell for $1 million to a developer. I don't have much sympathy!!!
Hear, Hear! I too, will not sign up with AARP. Some reasons are (1) AARP pushed to have Social Security Taxed (forget what the reason was but it went along w/John Kerry's reasons and it passed.) (2) AARP pushed hard for the Drug for Seniors (then said after it was law that they did not like the new law because so many members were quiting, canceling their membership. Thanks for the info about GUN CONTROL this I did not know. I Have guns and will defend my family to the last breath in me. I will not give MY GUNS up at any cost.I have been retired for 24 years and not once read any of AARP's mailing to me. Send the mailing back unopened and inscribed with "Return to sender Unsolicited Mailing".
Mass e-mailed!! Get this link all over the Net!
If the current Plan A means super-crappy returns for our kids and Plan B (Plan Bush) allows for productive investment growth for our kids, then it isn't hard to see which would be the better plan.
It's about planning ahead. I'm 56, and I favor making the switch.
"$2 Trillion is a LOT of money. I'm not sure the solution to the problem needs to costs that much."
Please give us your definition of cost. Do you consider your money to belong to the government and feel lucky to get to keep what they allow you to keep?
"Fine. Give me back all the money I and my employer have contributed for the past 25 years plus interest, and you can do whatever you want to Social Security."
They can keep my last 20 years worth of contributions if the program is killed today. But then, I am a true conservative and willing to make the sacrifice to eliminate a major socialistic program that creates an entitlement mindset.
Looking at your profile, it is clear that you are uneducated with regards to the current state of SS and that the money is already spent. No investment ever occured, instead current confiscated money is distributed to current recipients. If any private business set up a pension plan with the same operating procedure, the CEO would be thrown in jail for running an illegal ponzi (sp?) scheme.
In addition, your questions seem to indicate that all this time on FR and you haven't figured out that politicians will spend every dollar available to them. That is how they buy votes, and the SS "trust fund" is filled with IOU's from the politicians spending the money on vote buying.......
"They need a better proposal before I'll support it."
Please provide the text, or link to the proposal you reference.
Signed and bump
"2. It takes money OUT of Social Security to create private accounts."
This statement answers one of my questions. You verify that you do believe the money stolen from me every pay period rightfully belongs to the government and I should be thankful for what they let me keep. Why did you register for FR memebership?
Tell President Bush that the AARP is WRONG and you support SS reform adding private accounts....
president@whitehouse.gov
Signed it.
Exactly. Let me draw a picture for you. First, the Cato Institute says there's a $12 Trillion dollar deficit in Social Security for the Boomers. So, to make it easier to illustrate, let's say from 2010 to 2040 we have a $12 Trillion shortfall.
Next, the proposals I've seen show creating a private account - let's say a start date of 2007 to give them a good amount of time to pass it. Sec. Snow says the government will BORROW money to set up these private accounts and pay SS benefits while participants contribute to their private accounts - you can view his speech on the White House web site.
So, let's say 20% of the approx. 100,000,000 workers in the US today want to opt for the private accounts. What I've seen thus far states a maximum of $2000 per year for each participant, so we'll use that figure. 200,000,000X2000=40 Billion. So the government borrows $40 Billion per year to cover the costs of the accounts, and I'm assuming it gets added on to the federal deficit.
Here's how it breaks down as a time frame illustration:
(----------------------2007 start of private savings ---------------------->
(-----------2007 start of gov't borrowing $40 Billion per year------------->
(-------2008 incremental start of saving account offset to SS-------------->
(-------2008 interest starts accumulating on borrowed money----------------->
Now do you see any problems with that picture? The government is BORROWING money (and racking up interest) so people can contribute to private savings accounts during the time frame that SS is ALREADY $12 Trillon dollars short, and the incremental recoupment from the savings accounts won't peak until after all the baby boomers have retired because we're starting them right before the shortfall and not enough of the boomers can accumulate money in them to offset what they collect from Social Security!
It's a recipe for financial disaster and we'll be left holding the bag!
http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/social-security/
And sorry - I've been saying Sec. Snow as the speech I pulled from, and it's OMB director Josh Bolton.
Groan. My error, my bad.
No, I consider my money to be mine until the government snatches it from my resisting hand.
The government takes enough money from me. I don't want them to take even more.
Social Security was designed and implemented long before I was born - I have no say in the justice of the program. But, I suspect, there would be massive resistance to telling people they have to contribute but will get no benefit. SS is a VERY popular program.
We're stuck with the SS problem. All I want to do is find a 'fix' that won't break us financially. You can talk 'eliminate SS' all you want, but the likelihood that you can get Congress to look at that is nil. I'm realistic about what we can and can't do as a fix.
You're assuming that it will actually benefit our kids.
See my post #73.
Even if what you said were true, being a conservative is not a one issue viewpoint and I'm sure I could find issues in which your conservatism is tested.
I'm actually BEING a fiscal conservative by objecting to this plan.
See my post #73.
My problem is: Given what We the People know about Congress and the federal bureaucracy, does anyone know any politician and/or bureaucrat to be able to "fix" anything effectively?
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