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TRISTANI: I PLEDGE TO PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY
DOMENICI HAS VOTED REPEATEDLY TO BREAK ‘A SACRED TRUST’
September 18, 2002

Albuquerque, NM. – Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Gloria Tristani pledged today to stop all attempts to privatize Social Security and tap into the Social Security Trust Fund. “Retirement security is a measure of decency in our society. It is a fair reward for long years of work,” said Tristani. “It is an emotional and financial relief for young workers and families to know that their parents are financially secure.”

“Senator Domenici has voted repeatedly to privatize Social Security and has said he sees no reason in the world why Social Security funds should not be used to for other purposes,” said Tristani. “Domenici’s repeated attempts to break what he himself has called ‘a sacred trust’ with New Mexico’s seniors and disabled, many of whom rely solely on their Social Security checks to survive, is hypocritical and could result in a financial nightmare for the government, younger workers and retirees,” said Tristani.

In New Mexico, the benefit cuts resulting from privatization would be dramatic: guaranteed benefits for the average retiree would fall by $363, from $789 to $426 a month; an average retiree would be left with total guaranteed benefits of $5,112 a year – about $3,100 less than poverty level for an a senior living alone; a worker with a private account with good returns would receive $166 less a month on average, lowering benefits from $789 to $623 a month; and the cut in benefits for retired workers alone would result in a $327 million loss of total income to New Mexico.

“It is critical that we stop the Bush-Domenici plan to privatize Social Security,” Tristani said. “What we need to do is develop a bipartisan consensus on how to make absolutely certain that Social Security will remain strong for the millions of Americans who have paid into it and are counting on it to help fund their retirement.”

Social Security Talking Points
Gloria Tristani
Social Security Administration Albuquerque Office
September 17, 2002
(As Prepared for Delivery)

I am here this morning to talk about Social Security and the need to stop all attempts to privatize Social Security and to tap into the Social Security Trust Fund. One month ago, I signed a pledge not to privatize Social Security and to do everything possible to strengthen and safeguard a system that not only provides retirement security but also provides disability and survivor benefits to 45 million Americans. Although for many older New Mexicans, Social Security is a benefit in addition to other retirement income, for many older New Mexicans, Social Security is the only retirement income they receive.

Retirement security is a measure of decency in our society. It is a fair reward for long years of work. It is an emotional and financial relief for young workers and families to know that their parents are financially secure.

For 67 years, since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Social Security into law, this program has provided a guaranteed monthly income to workers and spouses. Social Security was designed to guarantee a basic income, to be supplemented by pensions and savings. According to the Social Security Administration, however, without Social Security more than half of all American seniors would live in poverty.

Social Security also provides critical benefits to disabled workers and their families, and to widowers and their families. Of the 45 million Americans collecting Social Security benefits, one-third are collecting disability and survivor benefits. In New Mexico, Social Security provides irreplaceable benefits and protections to working families and plays and important role in our state’s economy:

Nearly one in seven New Mexicans – 277,262 individuals – receives Social Security benefits. 164,380 are retirees, 31,521 are people too disabled to work and family members who rely or relied on a retired, disabled or deceased worker for income, including 53,752 spouses and children;

Retired New Mexican workers on average receive just $789 a month in Social Security benefits, or just $1,209 more annually than the poverty threshold for a senior living alone. Workers with disabilities receive $769 a month on average.

Social Security pays out $195 million in monthly benefits to New Mexico families -- money that is pumped back into our state’s economy.
Social Security is a plan that works. It is a promise that must not be broken. And the good news is that Social Security is in good shape. Economic growth has increased its revenues and extended its solvency beyond the retirement years of most baby boomers. The not so good news is that President Bush, Republicans and Senator Domenici have broken their promise on the lockbox by draining the Social Security Fund to pay for tax cuts that mostly benefit wealthy Americans.

The even worse news is that President Bush, Republicans and Senator Domenici would jeopardize and risk Social Security by privatizing it – with a plan put together by the “President’s Committee to Strengthen Social Security.” This privatization plan would cut benefits and increase the retirement age. Republicans don’t want to talk about the fact that they want to implement privatization immediately after our November elections. Instead, Republicans are trying to deceive us by saying that the word “privatize” is a misnomer and that they are just promoting personal retirement accounts within the Social Security system. That is an outright lie.

The Republicans say we need to privatize Social Security in order to fix it. Their fix would actually destroy Social Security. Their plan would take $1.5 trillion from Social Security to set up private accounts over ten years – a huge hole in Social Security funding. Privatization would produce substantial cuts in benefits - 20 to 40% - even for those workers who do not opt for private accounts. The Bush Plan also proposes “adjusting the benefit formula for life expectancy” which, in plain English means, you will have to delay your retirement several years beyond today’s retirement age.

In New Mexico the benefit cuts resulting from privatization would be dramatic:
Guaranteed benefits for the average retiree would fall by $363, from $789 to $426 a month;

An average retiree would be left with total guaranteed benefits of $5,112 a year – about $3,100 less than poverty level for an a senior living alone;

A worker with a private account with good returns would receive $166 less a month on average, lowering benefits from $789 to $623 a month;

The cut in benefits for retired workers alone would result in a $327 million loss of total income to New Mexico.
To those who argue that you should have the freedom to invest your own money, I say that the money that workers pay into Social Security is needed for current benefits and to prevent more retired, disabled and widowed to be forced into living in poverty.

To those who argue that private investments offer higher rates of return than Social Security, I say that’s like comparing apples and oranges. Social Security cannot be compared to a mutual fund. Social Security is a guaranteed benefit, protected against inflation as long as you live after retirement; no mutual fund can guarantee that.

As Enron, WorldCom workers and investors, and too many other Wall Street investors just found out – risk means a life’s savings can disappear overnight.

To those who say that private stock market accounts can be passed on to your heirs, I say that under many privatization proposals, a large amount of money workers would earn in these accounts, would be taken back by the government under a “benefit offset.” Social Security offers survivor benefits that last far longer than the savings a middle-income worker might accumulate.

I am committed to fight any attempts to privatize and raid Social Security. I am committed instead to strengthen and preserve Social Security. Social Security is financially secure through
2041 and in relatively good shape through 2050. We need to engage in and foster a genuine bipartisan dialogue to develop a fair solution for everyone in order to protect full benefits after 2041.

To keep the record straight and because Senator Domenici will not debate me until late October, days before the election, I will highlight some of his positions and votes on Social Security:
Domenici voted for a Republican budget plan to take $75 billion in Social Security Trust Fund money and pay for tax cuts to benefit special interests and the wealthy. [S1429, 7/30/1999, Senate Vote #236]

Domenici has voted to freeze or reduce cost of living increases (COLAs) for Social Security recipients at least seven times. [5/8/1981, #94; 5/12/1981, #109; 4/30/1985, #34, 5/1/1985, #35; 5/10/85, #72; 5/10/1985, #73; 10/10/1985, #215]

According to Washington Monthly (April 1999), the most popular privatization idea at the time, as set forth by Senators Phil Gramm and Domenici – would use the budget surplus to fund new individual private accounts. As such:

Domenici voted to call for the budget surplus to be used to reduce the Social Security payroll tax and establish personal retirement accounts [#77, 4/1/98

Domenici voted in favor of a resolution that would dedicate the federal budget surplus to establishing personal retirement accounts [#56, 4/1/98]
Domenici’s record on privatization goes hand-in-hand with his willingness to tap into and raid the Social Security Trust Fund. On September 7, 2001, last year, and before 9-11, The Albuquerque Journal and The Washington Post reported that Domenici stated “he saw no reason in the world” why the Social Security funds should not be used for other purposes. Late last year, Domenici also called for a one-month payroll tax holiday, which would further drain the Social Security Trust Fund.

Contrary to Mr. Domenici, I see every reason in the world why the Social Security Trust Fund should NOT be raided or tapped. I see every reason in the world why Social Security should NOT be privatized. Instead of raiding or privatizing Social Security, I will fight to preserve Social Security. I will make sure that we keep the promise we have made to our seniors, to our disabled, to our survivors and widowers – about Social Security. Social Security is a promise I will keep.
 

Distributed by:
DAVID KAUFMAN
PHONE: (505) 954-4186
CELL: (505) 690-6550
dkaufman@nmlegal.com