Saving Social Security from Privatization

Social Security reflects the best of America's values. It promises all Americans that if they work hard and play by the rules, they can retire and live in dignity. Social Security is not a handout. It is a benefit that senior citizens earn, by working and paying into the system.

Social Security has been a remarkable success. Today, less than 10 percent of seniors live in poverty. If not for Social Security, that figure would be about 50 percent. Social Security is the primary source of income for two-thirds of seniors, and the only source of income for one-fifth of seniors. The program also is critically important for disabled Americans, and for millions of spouses and children of workers who die.

Social Security faces long term challenges but, contrary to some claims, it is not in crisis. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, it will be able to fully meet future obligations for almost 50 years, and then still will be able to pay higher benefits than are provided today. Yet the program does face long term challenges that we need to address on a bipartisan basis.

Unfortunately, instead of strengthening the program, President Bush's plan is to privatize the program. I strongly opposed his privatization plan, which would have weakened Social Security, not strengthen it. The President's proposal would have required very deep cuts in benefits. These cuts could have exceeded one-third for many Americans, and they would have applied to all seniors in the future, even those who choose not to risk their benefits in privatized accounts.

I opposed the President's proposal because it would have incurred more than $5 trillion in debt to finance privatized accounts. Much of this borrowing would come from foreign countries like China and Japan, further increasing our nation's dependence on foreign creditors. This huge new debt would pose serious risks to our economy in the short-term, and threaten to slow growth and lead to large tax increases in the future.

Some have argued that privatized accounts are a way to address Social Security's long term problems. The truth is, such accounts actually make matters worse, not better. As proposed by the White House, these accounts would drain money from the Social Security Trust Fund, cut funding that the Social Security program needs, and accelerate the program's insolvency. That's the last thing we should be doing.

To really address the retirement security of seniors, we need to do more than strengthen Social Security. Too few Americans are saving for their future, and we should be addressing that, as well. That is why we should consider modernizing our complex system of retirement savings and developing new tax-free ways to help lower income and middle class families save, outside of Social Security.

I want to work with the President to strengthen Social Security and increase retirement security for all Nevadans and all Americans. But we should not rush into radical privatization plans that require deep benefit cuts and massive debt increases. Instead, let's be careful, and take the time needed to get this right.

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