Political Quotes

“I am going to talk about Social Security, a little bit about the problems, a little bit about the commission that was appointed today by the President of the United States, George Bush, to try to come to a conclusion that is going to keep Social Security solvent. We have been looking and acknowledging for almost 6 years now the serious problem of Social Security solvency. It has been a problem because when we developed Social Security in 1934, it was set up as a pay-as-you go program, where current workers pay in their Social Security tax and it is immediately sent out to current retirees. What we have been experiencing over the last 65 years is a dwindling number in the birth rate and an increasing lifespan of seniors. So, for example, in 1942, we had almost 40 people working paying in their Social Security tax for every one retiree. Today, yes, Mr. Speaker, there are three people working paying a much higher Social Security tax to accommodate every one retiree. The guess is that within 20 years, it is going to be two workers paying their tax for one retiree, so the challenge is increasing the return on that money that is being paid in by employees and employers in the United States. Right now, the average employee is going to get a 1.7 percent return on the money they have paid in to Social Security in Social Security taxes.”