Political Quotes

“in 5 minutes I am going to give a short tutorial on the bleak future of Social Security. A proposal that I just introduced, H.R. 3055 tries to make sure that we keep Social Security solvent. Social Security is one of the most successful programs in assuring that retirees continue to have some real social security. After the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt said what we should have is a program of forced savings during one's working years, to set aside to make sure that people have some money in retirement. Well, as it turned out, the law that was passed provided that nothing was set aside in an individual's name. Existing workers paid in the Social Security tax and that was immediately sent out to current retirees. It was sort of a pay-as-you-go program. It is, if you will, Mr. Speaker, like a chain letter. Uncle Sam says, look, here is a list of names; put your name at the bottom of the list and send a check to all those people above you. And when your name gets to the top when you retire, all of the people below you at that time will send you a check. The problem is there will be fewer people to send you a check. There are two colliding forces, not only in the United States but across the world where the age of death is higher. We are living longer. And at the same time, the birth rate is going down. In Europe, France now has a payroll tax of 51 percent.…”