Letter: Private accounts not the solution

Monday, April 4, 2005 | 9:12 a.m.

This is in response to Vice President Dick Cheney's support of President Bush's proposal for Social Security, which he expressed on his March 22 visit to Reno.

It is good that the administration is placing Social Security solvency concerns before the American people. AARP has for years been calling for adjustments to Social Security that will strengthen the system.

Private accounts that drain money out of Social Security, however, only increase the solvency challenges to the pay-as-you-go system, which will be able to pay only 73 percent of benefits in 2041. Private accounts carved out of the existing system put current benefits at risk while passing the bill to our members' children and grandchildren. Our members place a high value on family and many believe it's important to make sensible, modest changes now to ensure the program for future generations.

It is time to take private accounts, which are estimated to cost more than $2 trillion in transition costs over 10 years, off the table. We cannot saddle future generations with the burden of paying three times for Social Security -- the cost of paying existing benefits for current retirees, the price for investing in private accounts and the additional national debt we'll incur to create this new government program.

Long-term solvency should be a priority for the American people. We hope we can work together to make responsible adjustments to preserve Social Security for younger workers, as well as our current members.

CARLA SLOAN Editor's note: Carla Sloan is the state director of AARP Nevada.