February - September 2005
“I will work with members of Congress to find the most effective combination of reforms. I will listen to anyone who has a good idea to offer.” - President George W. Bush
The following correspondence represents some of the initial feedback received during the first six months after completion of the PACT America report.
Response from Congresswoman Melissa Bean - September 22, 2005
Dear Mr. Florzak,
Thank you for expressing your concern about Social Security. I am honored to represent you, and I appreciate your active participation in our legislative process. Your involvement makes democracy work better by helping me more effectively represent you and Illinois' Eighth District.
Your letter is one of thousands I've received from concerned citizens about hundreds of issues. I am working diligently to respond thoughtfully to these topics of concern, and I hope you will forgive the delay in my response.
As you know, President Bush has proposed fundamentally restructuring the Social Security program to address its solvency. While I agree that Social Security is facing a real, long-term solvency problem and Congress must consider changes to the program, the president's proposal does not address its solvency issues.
In fact, the president's plan would hasten Social Security's financial problems and add significantly to our national debt. The ten year cost to transition to new private accounts would add nearly $2 trillion to an already $7.8 trillion national debt- clearly moving us in the wrong fiscal direction. It would particularly burden younger workers by further increasing their "share" of the national debt, which is already more than $26,000 per American.
Social Security has played-and will continue to play-an important role in ensuring that senior citizens have a basic measure of protection in their retirement. Since its creation, poverty rates among the elderly, at one time more than 35 percent, have declined dramatically. As a result, Congress must be mindful of improving the program's long-term stability without jeopardizing the retirement income of older Americans who count on Social Security. As the House of Representatives continues to work to address this issue, I will be sure to keep your thoughts in mind.
Thank you again for contacting me about this important issue. I am proud to serve Illinois' Eighth District, and I am committed to working hard for you. Please do not hesitate to write, call, or email if I can ever help you in any way.
Sincerely,
Melissa L. Bean
Member of Congress
Suggestion from a Corporate Executive - August 8, 2005
Adam,
I did receive your e-mail, and also took the opportunity to visit your site. You've done an incredible amount of work on a very complex subject. I assume the "elected official" you are referring to is President Bush, and I'm sorry, but it would just not be appropriate to use this occasion for any other political purpose except the one he has agreed to come for. In addition, I doubt I would have the opportunity after hearing of the whirlwind plans being made for his visit.
I see you have had some response from Senator Durbin, and the Speaker's office. One suggestion I might give is to offer a more condensed summary of the plan, possibly without as much description of the problem, and more emphasis on the structure of the solution. Most of the staffers (and they are the ones that decide which messages get passed along) are very familiar with the problem, so jumping to the solution might make it more actionable for them.
. . .
Regards, and good luck on your quest.
*******
Message from an Economics Professor - April 9, 2005
Adam,
Without reading your proposal (so I am not commenting on whether this is 'good' or 'bad) I thought I would offer some thoughts on your problem. You believe you have something useful to say on the subject of Social Security, but no one will listen since you lack credentials. Unfortunately, that is how the game is played. To show how this works, let us think about what would happen if I read your proposal, said it was a great idea, and decided to communicate your idea to the media. I would be able to get the local media in ******* to listen, but beyond that audience I would be in the same position you find yourself in at the moment. My research is not in this area, so I have no credibility on the issue nationally.
If I wanted to change this fact I would begin writing academic articles on the subject. I would then proceed to present these at academic meetings and in academic journals. After some time, I would build up credibility and find that my ideas could reach a wider audience. This would take a fair amount of time.
Why can't we live in a world where people just evaluate ideas as they are, and not focus on the messenger? In the natural sciences this is possible. If you discover cold fusion, regardless of who you are, this would have to be noticed by all of science. Your work would be purely objective and replicated. So after replicating your work you would be recognized. In the social sciences, though, this is not possible. The messenger is vital to the story being told. People can't know for certain that you are correct or incorrect. So who you are plays a role in their assessment.
If you would like people to note who you are and pay attention, you will need to go to college and earn the appropriate degrees. This is just how this works.
If you want your idea noticed before this college work is completed, though, there is one path you can follow. Look in the economics literature for people who write on this topic. Contact those specific people with your ideas. Here is the trick, though. Don't send them a mass e-mail and all of your ideas. Instead, engage them in a conversation about their work. As you exchange e-mails, you can work your ideas into the conversation. You will find this approach will gradually gain you an audience. I would suggest that you start with an economist who works on this subject but is employed by a lesser school. People at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc.. are flooded with e-mails daily and won't have time or an inclination to respond (you would never get an e-mail like this from a person at those schools). Look for someone at ******* campus (no, I have no ideas who to start with) or at a similar school around the country.
I would encourage you to keep working on this. Do not get frustrated. It takes along time to contribute to a national conversation on any subject, let alone something like this. Be patient. In the meantime, go to school and get your degrees.
Sincerely,
Dr. *******
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics
Message from an AARP Representative - April 5, 2005
Dear Adam:
I am very impressed with your plan, and the obvious amount of research you've put into this issue. I think it's also quite commendable that someone your age would take the time and interest to look at Social Security as the social insurance program that it is, rather than something that "won't be there for me," a refrain we hear too often from people of all ages. It is truly refreshing to hear from someone who cares about the welfare of our country as a whole, not just what might be in it for him or herself. We agree that Social Security is a compact between generations and a reflection of the society we want to be; compassionate and concerned with the welfare of others. We agree that private accounts must NOT make the problem worse, but be in addition to the guaranteed benefit of Social Security. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
******* *******
Associate State Director
AARP *******
Message from Senator Barack Obama - March 30, 2005
On February 25, 2005, I attended Barack Obama's town hall meeting at the Prisco Center in Aurora. The bulletin in the local newspaper quoted Senator Obama as saying, "I want to learn firsthand the cares and concerns of the people in Kane County."
I saw this meeting as a great opportunity, because I had been unable to reach the Senator by phone or e-mail. However, much to my dismay, I wasn't called upon during the brief question and answer period. After the meeting, Senator Obama had plenty of time to shake hands and take pictures, but his assistants told me that he didn't have time to listen to my concerns. I gave them two copies of my report, but the following e-mail has been the only response that I have received.
Dear Adam:
Thank you for advising me of your proposals to reform Social Security. I appreciate your comments on how we can truly fix Social Security. Your ideas will be extremely helpful as I determine what steps can best strengthen this important program.
Although no Social Security reform legislation has been formally discussed on the Senate floor this session, I have been following this debate closely. I appreciate that our dual goal is to preserve the financial integrity of the program for current beneficiaries and to assure that workers who are paying Social Security taxes today get a solid return on their investment when they eventually retire. However, the bottom line is that Social Security provides an important safety net to millions of older and disabled Americans, and we must not lose sight of this primary and essential goal.
As you and I both believe, Social Security must remain strong. While some adjustments may need to be made to shore up the financial foundation of the Social Security system, it is my hope that this exercise will be undertaken in a bipartisan spirit that protects the basic integrity of the Social Security program. I look forward to exploring ways to improve and strengthen the Social Security system. But I am not willing to embrace any specific approach without a full understanding of how it will affect seniors and disabled Americans currently enrolled in the program. Workers have lived up to their end of the bargain. Surely the government can do the same.
Again, thank you for contacting me about Social Security reform. Please stay in touch on this or any other issue in the days ahead.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
United States Senator
Message from Senator Dick Durbin - February 16, 2005
Dear Mr. Florzak:
Thank you for contacting me regarding proposals to privatize Social Security. I appreciate hearing your views.
Social Security provides a stable base of financial support that has gone a long way toward eliminating poverty among elderly Americans. Benefits are inflation adjusted, reflect workers' career earnings and last a lifetime. Social Security provides disabled and retired Americans and their survivors with an important level of certainty. The Social Security trustees this year predicted that the program will remain solvent until 2042, a one year improvement over last year.
Social Security has been targeted in recent years by those who would prefer to shift trillions of dollars worth of retirement accounts to Wall Street. While some proposals would put new money into Social Security to extend its solvency, other proposals focus on privatizing the program without addressing the enormous cost of the transition to private accounts. In particular, every privatization proposal assumes large benefit cuts in the guaranteed portion of Social Security or other steps such as raising the retirement age that would most hurt those who can least afford to take the risks associated with investing their retirement funds in the stock market. I cannot support such a move.
Any reform proposal must ensure that Social Security is preserved and strengthened so that an adequate minimum benefit will be available to future retirees. Social Security is more than just a retirement program, and reforms cannot abandon our responsibility to provide for workers who become severely disabled or for the families of workers who die young. Reforms should not be borne on the backs of lower-income workers, and any changes should ensure that women, who move in and out of the workforce more frequently than men, are not disproportionately hurt by changes in Social Security.
I do not support the plans advanced by the commission President Bush appointed to explore methods for privatizing Social Security. Each proposal would reduce Social Security's guaranteed benefits. The private accounts advocated by the Commission could lead to drastically different retirement outcomes for workers who paid the same amount of payroll taxes into the system. The uncertainties of a market vulnerable to disruptions such as we saw with Enron and other companies could cause Americans who are looking forward to a secure retirement to remain in the workforce longer to make up for unexpected losses. In addition, I have serious concerns about the transitional and administrative costs associated with each of the proposals.
Changes to the Social Security program must continue to provide current and future retirees with an adequate minimum benefit and the other essential features that have made Social Security our nation's most successful and important public program. I remain committed to keeping Social Security strong for present and future generations.
Thank you once again for your message. I will keep your comments in mind in case legislation related to this matter reaches the Senate floor for consideration.
Sincerely,
Richard J. Durbin
United States SenatorRJD/sbs