Social Security

The President has made it clear that he does not want to save Social Security, but to kill it. His plans are designed to shift Social Security from being a safety net into a form of welfare. If he is allowed to make these draconian changes most Americans will suffer when they retire.

The President has suggested that one way to solve the future funding problems for Social Security is to drastically reduce benefits to middle class retirees. His logic is that they can afford to save for their own retirement and therefore do not need the safety net.

There are major problems with his logic, 1) Many folks nearing retirement have not saved because they were counting on SS and their company retirement plan, which brings up the second problem; 2) As United Airlines has shown, the average worker has no guarantee that their retirement plan will be there when they need it. 3) The last problem overlooked by the Presidents plan is that most Americans can not count on having their present job into retirement (again putting any alternative retirement plan into jeopardy).

Perhaps if I were an oil or corporate mogul these problems could be over looked. As a working stiff who will need retirement benefits from every source I can get, the Presidents plans are quite worrisome.

None of the plans that the President has proposed solve the funding problem, and some actually increase the funding gap. The future funding of SS is going to be an issue, and we need a plan to solve that problem. A viable plan will not be designed to eliminate a safety net needed by most Americans in retirement. Although, personally I would rather see Congress and the President working on saving Medicare and controlling spiraling medical costs, a much more immediate problem.

Steve McGourty

360-652-5163

Arlington, WA

Printed in the Everett Herald 12 June 05