Bill Bennett: “This morning's paper has in it once again, as we often get here in Washington, a poll. It seems everything we do is…”

“This morning's paper has in it once again, as we often get here in Washington, a poll. It seems everything we do is focused on polls and what the people think. This poll is on the question of whether there is a crisis in Social Security. Frankly, the numbers are confusing, because it depends on the definition. If the question is whether there is a problem, there is a majority who say there is a problem; there is a smaller percentage that say there is a crisis, and so on. It gets very confusing. I would like to speak today in answer to the fundamental question posed by the poll, and do what I can to shed some light on the question of what condition Social Security is in. I am not a newcomer to this. We have held hearings in the Joint Economic Committee, while I have been chairman, examining this question. We have a body of institutional knowledge that we have put together now over the past year and a half. I want to pose and I hope answer three fundamental questions here today that can be the basis for the debate on Social Security. Those questions are: No. 1, is there a problem? No. 2, if so, how big is it? No. 3, when will it hit? With those three questions in mind, let us go forward. Individuals come to me and ask these questions through the lens of their individual situation. Is there a problem with Social Security? They are really asking, Is there a problem for me in Social Security? The answer to that question is a question: When were you born?”