Thursday, April 9, 1998 | 10:48 a.m.
As Clinton said Tuesday, Social Security has been one of the great success stories in our nation's history. But there is trouble on the horizon. There is concern whether Social Security will survive the retirement of the baby boomer generation, which starts in a decade. It's expected that Social Security will begin to run short of cash in the year 2029.
Instead of presenting a detailed outline of any reform plan, the president on Tuesday gathered elected officials and policy analysts to present their views and take questions from citizens. One plan that has been advanced is scrapping the Social Security payroll tax and letting Americans make their own retirement investments.
Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., and others have advanced a more modest version of revamping Social Security. Moynihan wants to take 2 percent of the current Social Security payroll tax and let people place those savings into private investment accounts.
During the Social Security reform debate, much has been said about letting Americans invest their money privately so they can get a better return, especially in the stock market. While the market has experienced a tremendous surge in recent years, let's not forget it can crash, as it did most notably in 1929 at the onset of the Great Depression.
Before 1929 many Americans were caught up in a stock market euphoria just as they are now, investing their life savings in stocks -- with tragic consequences. Social Security, the retirement system created during the Depression, was born out of the need to protect older Americans without any savings to live on.
One of the most important comments made during Clinton's town hall meeting was made by Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D. "Whatever we do, we can't take security out of Social Security," Pomeroy said. His statement wasn't a complex discourse about the changing demographics affecting Social Security, but its simplicity must always be central in the debate over how to fix the system.
The nation's retirement fund must be based on sound investment principles. A system based on risky investments is, by definition, not Social Security. Recipients of Social Security need to be assured that whatever changes are made, they will receive a guaranteed retirement benefit.
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