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A monthly archive: January 2005 |
# articles in archive: 16 |
Subject: Politics An open letter to congress
Social security is a simple notion: its a compact between generations. A simple, yet profound, commitment of the younger working generation to provide the basics of life to the older retired generation. A compact that is done for the most practical kind of ethical and moral reason: that if we honor this compact, than so shall our children. And in this honoring, we as a nation will know that the older generation, for the forseeable future, need not worry about penury and destitution. President Bush seeks to discard this promise, this time-tested and workable vision of how our nation should work. H d dangles fears of failure of this system, fears not fouunded on fact nor logic. For the fundamentals of Social Security are not based on finance. Rather, the fundamental is a national committment to the compact. In its esscence, President Bush's tale, his story that insists that his privatization plans are all that will save Social Security, is his way of saying to the scrapheap with the idea of a compact between generations. And for what? To avoid a possible rate increase in the far future? Or a raise in the income cap? Or some a slight decrease in GROWTH of benefits? OR a slight incrase in retirement age (to reflect the wonderful fact that we are living longer)? These simple solutions are all available, yet President Bush wishes to pretend that only his plan, his erosion of the social compact, will succeed. It is for this reason that President Bushs proposals must be fully oppossed. Perhaps the idea of a government maintained savings plan is good and useful. If so, let it be implemented on its own merit, and keep it seperate from the social security system.
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