Practicing Big Bird Economics

I was particularly anxious for this new year to arrive. Having turned 65 in August 2004, I would collect my first Social Security check in January. However, my feeling of excitement turned to dismay.The first check came at the same time as President Bush’s $200 million campaign to privatize Social Security retirement benefits. He was talking about crisis as soon as 2008, saying that Social Security needs to find $4 trillion. In his report to Congress last week, Alan Greenspan called this a conundrum.In the very same week, a group of scientists reminded us that the universe is expanding more quickly than previously thought. They are concerned that lack of funding and interest in science will affect our ability to continue to be pioneers in important fields like global warming. A conundrum.I have my own conundrum. Do I save or spend my Social Security money? I am too practical to be thinking about the trendy Yves Saint Laurent La Parisienne dots bag in cotton faille with lacing, iconic shoulder strap, and detachable logo at $645 that Bergdorf Goodman advertised in the papers. After I pay taxes, can I afford it?Besides, Mr. Greenspan is now echoing the advice of Big Bird, the sage of “Sesame Street,” who, in one classic episode, lectured the audience on the word “cooperate.”I remember that we did cooperate with Mr. Greenspan in 1983 when he promised the American people continued success of the Social Security retirement program if the government could raise taxes. Not only was solvency extended from 2031 to 2042 but there were surpluses – surpluses now spent for a variety of needs from airplanes to roads to food stamps.Mr. Greenspan now tells us we are a nation of spenders, and that we need to set an example to our children to become a nation of savers. We need to become fiscally responsible.Whoa. The highest retirement benefit is capped at less than $24,000 yearly for the highest wage earners. To be able to survive on that amount is a conundrum. Consider that health-care costs are rising at more than 300% a year. This is the biggest conundrum of all. Telling wage earners they can leave their savings to their families is a bit disingenuous as each retiree will have to buy an annuity before collecting a monthly pension.And your account would be reduced by a formulated amount that goes back to the government to help pay for the explosive foreign debt. Who will really benefit from this private-account idea? Certainly not anyone trying to get by on minimum wage. Even the Social Security Web site warns people that the maximum is only 40% of what they need in retirement.The current cost for managing the Social Security program is now less than 1%. A new agency created to run this new program will undoubtedly cost considerably more. Robin Hood had it right: take from the rich to help the poor. Legally is the conundrum here.Sharon Stone, the actress, at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos recently, single-handedly raised millions of dollars in a few minutes from the flush audience to help buy mosquito nets to help contain the malaria epidemic in Africa. In a moment of need, you needed a voice of conscience. Ms. Stone stood up and said, “Cooperate.”That’s what we need Mr. Greenspan to say, again and again, to us and the president. Perhaps the government could ask businesses and corporations to donate to the Social Security Fund in exchange for even greater tax breaks. Or we could do the unthinkable and eliminate the tax cuts for the wealthy. Proposed tax cuts add more than $1.6 trillion to our debt over the next ten years, and none of it goes to people making less than $100,000 a year. And it would certainly enable the president to restore the tax-cut proposals to education, science, and housing.Well, Mr. Greenspan, since you say forced savings doesn’t affect net savings, I get the point. Creating assets creates capital assets. Okay, so I won’t buy that purse. But since the stock market seems a bit shaky, I’ll put the money in the bank. The bank? Ouch! I’m cooperating.Ms. Vecsey is an artist and writer on Long Island. E-mail: megv@optonline.net.

Practicing Big Bird Economics

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