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The press releases posted here have been provided to NewsCenter by the one of the many progressive organizations we have selected to participate. If you would like more information about this press release, you should contact the organization directly. |
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| JANUARY
20, 1999 10:37 AM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: 2030 Center Adam Luna or Hans Riemer (202) 822 6526 |
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| Clinton Social Security Agenda: First Step To A Major Victory For Young Americans | ||||
| WASHINGTON
- January 20 - President
Clinton’s new Social Security agenda, announced in his State of the Union
Address, represents a first step towards a major victory for young
Americans. The president’s platform
combines strengthening Social Security’s rock-solid guarantee with a visionary
approach to creating new savings opportunities for millions of young workers.
The president proposes using about 62 percent the Federal budget surplus to bolster Social Security’s reserves, while investing about one-fourth of all reserves in a stock fund. Together, these changes will keep Social Security solvent until 2055; the president calls for a bipartisan effort to extend solvency until 2075. About $500 billion would then be used to finance Universal Saving Accounts (USAs), which will create new opportunities for millions of workers to accumulate a retirement income. The president’s proposal takes the wind from the sails of Wall Street’s “privatization” push. Privatization would gouge Social Security’s Trust Fund, diverting needed payroll taxes and creating large cuts in Social Security’s guaranteed benefits. The president’s plan, however, maintains Social Security commitments for future generations and creates an individual account system that is completely separate from Social Security. In the 2030 Center report Strengthening Social Security for Young Workers, released this January, the 2030 Center proposed a similar vision for the future of Social Security: a partially-invested Trust Fund for Social Security, supplemented by new saving accounts. 2030 Center Director Hans Riemer said: Tonight, the president unveiled a plan to strengthen Social Security for young workers. The approach combines a strong Social Security program with a new vision, Universal Saving Accounts. This marriage of tradition and innovation will bring generations together. Congress should have a full discussion to work out the details. If enacted, this framework would offer significant protections to a generation that has watched pension coverage rates fall through the floor. As young workers know all too well, pensions are particularly scarce in the jobs of the future. For the 97 percent of temp workers with no pension, for example, Clinton’s proposal would really help build a better tomorrow. In our polling, this is exactly what young workers have been asking for: no cuts in Social Security benefits, and individual accounts that supplement, but do not replace, Social Security. The 2030 Center will be actively engaged in bringing young adults to the table to fight for this vision of Social Security’s future. ### Visit www.2030.org for our Social Security poll and the report Strengthening Social Security for Young Workers. MEDIA
AVAILABILITY:
Hans Riemer, 2030 Center Director The 2030 Center is a public policy organization dedicated to improving the economic circumstances of young adults. |
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