KUCINICH UNCOVERS NEW FRAUD IN SOCIAL SECURITY PLAN
dc.indymedia.org
DC INDYMEDIA - Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) today brought forth
a new case against the Administration's so-called Social Security reform
plan by exposing the precipitous drop in future retiree benefits
implicit in the Administration plan to switch from wage indexing to
price indexing. In a speech this morning on the House floor, Kucinich
said:
"Social Security benefits have increased over the years because they
long have been calculated to wage increases, which on the average go up
3.6% a year. So Social Security benefits increase with rising wages. The
Administration wants to change all that. They want to index Social
Security benefits based on a price index, not wages.
"As a result, millions of future retirees will see their future Social
Security benefits reduced as much as 40%. Because prices do not increase
as fast as wages.
"Let me give you an example. If you began working in 1959 and retired in
2003, at age 65, under wage indexing, your benefits rise with rising
wages, you would get $1158 a month. Under price indexing, your benefits
would be frozen, you would get only $701 a month. So it would be a 40%
cut in benefits with price indexing, and a person would lose $100,000 in
retirement benefits over a lifetime.
"Why the switch to price indexing? Because, the privatization of Social
Security will create an additional budget shortfall. The Administration
is going to have to borrow money to set up private accounts. The
shortfall is going to be for 45 years, and the Administration is going
to have to borrow $15 trillion dollars.
"They are going to get the money off the backs of America's retirees. It
is wrong, say no to privatization, no to price indexing."
Kucinich added that while much attention has been focused on private
accounts, price indexing, once understood by both the media and the
American people generally, will create such an uproar that it will
jeopardize not only the Administration's plans, but could create great
political risk for members supporting the plans.
BROKERAGE FIRM DESERTS WAR ON SOCIAL SECURITY
washingtonpost.com
JEFFREY H. BIRNBAUM, WASHINGTON POST - A large Midwest brokerage
abruptly withdrew from a business coalition that backs President Bush's
Social Security proposals after the AFL-CIO staged protests at two of
the firm's offices and attacked it on the Internet. Edward D. Jones &
Co., which operates under the trade name Edward Jones, resigned from the
Alliance for Worker Retirement Security, a coalition of corporations and
trade associations that has long pressed for the creation of private
accounts as part of Social Security. The St. Louis company has been a
member of the coalition since 1998, the year of its inception.
The AFL-CIO claimed Edward Jones's decision not to renew its membership
in the coalition as a victory in its nationwide lobbying campaign
against the president's Social Security proposals. In December, AFL-CIO
President John J. Sweeney sent letters to 46 members of the Securities
Industry Association. In January, he sent similar notes to SIA's board
protesting its advocacy of private accounts.
The labor federation trained special attention on Edward Jones, Charles
Schwab Corp., Wachovia Corp. and Waddell & Reed Financial Inc., in
addition to the SIA, because all were members of the Alliance for Worker
Retirement Security, which represents more than 40 groups and companies.
Earlier this week, the coalition removed the names of its members from
its Web site. |
