R.C. Longworth hit the nail on the head with “How safe is our safety net?” (Perspective, May 28). Social Security is a program that belongs to all Americans. It declares that no one shall be lost to poverty, ill health and isolation as long as we as a people have a collective value in our citizenry.
It makes great sense for government to encourage individual savings for investments that will constitute needed funds for retirement years.
It makes little sense to reduce the Social Security contribution levels and increase government regulations to mandate that people must enter restricted investments for their retirement. Too many of us do not have the expertise, experience or training on how to invest and grow our personal resources. The stock market is volatile and contains risk.
Will there be large-scale investments in teaching our citizenry how to protect their retirement funds? Probably not, since the trillion dollars to even transition to an individual investment system is not identified in plans for this giant risk. Already we do not invest federal funds in programs that provide information to family caregivers for assisting loved ones with long-term care support needs because Congress has not reauthorized the Older Americans Act in nine years.
I realize that there are millions of young people who have not seen a recession threaten their jobs and economic security. I urge us not to be misled by those who have no risk because of their family’s wealth or gigantic fortune in business that most of us will never see.
Don’t permit those who are so secure that they never have had to care for a sick, isolated and poor person, to strip you of the most successful program in the history of the United States.
I personally prefer to fund the Social Security system with my tax money than to see those revenues bail out the private mismanagement of savings and loans as we saw billions of tax dollars used for that purpose in the 1980s and 1990s.
The United States of America can and must stand behind Social Security system. This country will not end in 2037 simply because today’s politicians are not facing their responsibility to identify the 25 cents per dollar that will be needed from a manageable trust fund to cover retirees’ full Social Security in that year. We will find a way to make the program secure and dependable for the life of our country without unnecessary risk even to those who claim that they are being denied higher returns through private investment. Those who are worried that they may do better are the same ones who will be crying out for large government supports to cover their mistakes and poor decisions.
If the deficits of the 1980s can be reduced through restraint, and economic policies that permit growth are able to be implemented as we saw in the last decade, the will of Americans to protect and defend their country from all threats will secure Social Security. I look for our nation to make sure that Social Security always remains the starting point for each of our retirement plans and health-care coverage.
