WASHINGTON — As the Senate Finance Committee
holds their hearing to evaluate different plans to fix Social Security, The
Concord Coalition today released a Social Security Policy Brief reminding
lawmakers that there is no "free lunch" when designing such plans.
WASHINGTON — As the Senate Finance Committee
holds their hearing to evaluate different plans to fix Social Security, The
Concord Coalition today released a Social Security Policy Brief reminding
lawmakers that there is no "free lunch" when designing such plans.
"Nothing sounds better to a politician than the prospect of fixing a problem
without anyone having to give up anything. Unfortunately, much of the recent
discourse about Social Security reform reflects this perspective. From the
political right, the message is ‘if we just adopt personal accounts everyone
comes out ahead.’ From the political left, it is ‘if we just make a few minor
adjustments the program can pay all promised benefits indefinitely.’
"The problem with both messages is that they ignore fiscal realities. Social
Security can’t be fixed with personal accounts that no one has to pay for or
with aspirin-style benefit constraints or tax increases. The reluctance of
policymakers to publicly acknowledge the necessity of people having to give up
something significant now and in the future presents an enormous obstacle to
making the changes necessary to bring about a more sustainable system and assure
the nation’s economy can absorb the burden of a rapidly aging society."
The full text of Issue #6, "Tackling Social Security: There is no ‘Free lunch,’"
along with the other issues from The Concord Coalition’s Series On Social
Security Reform, is available online at:
http://www.concordcoalition.org/issues/socsec/
The Concord Coalition is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to
balanced federal budgets and generationally responsible fiscal policy. Concord’s
co-chairs are former Senators Warren B. Rudman (R-NH) and Bob Kerrey (D-NE).
Former Commerce Secretary Peter G. Peterson serves as President of The Concord
Coalition.
CONTACT:
Tristan Cohen
(703) 894-6222
[email protected]
