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Tenth District Congressman Donald Payne today expressed his strong opposition to proposals to privatize Social Security, and unveiled a new feature on his website - a calculator designed to demonstrate how much New Jersey residents could lose under privatization.
The Bush Administration’s privatization proposal means benefit cuts of up to 46 percent in the years to come. The calculator will help people in New Jersey learn how this plan will affect them. According to the Center on Economic and Policy Research, under current proposals being considered to privatize Social Security, average workers in their early 20s entering the workforce today would lose an estimated $152,000 in benefits over their lifetimes.
The Social Security calculator compares annual benefits under the current Social Security program with that of benefits under the plan favored by President Bush and most Congressional Republicans to privatize the system. The web calculator determines expected losses in Social Security benefits based on individuals’ age and annual income. Expected outcomes are based on inflation rates as suggested by the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) economic assumptions.
“Social Security is facing a challenge, not a crisis,” said Congressman Payne. “Thousands of people in my Congressional district rely on Social Security benefits. These are not just retired Americans, but also people with disabilities and children who have lost a parent. Instead of privatizing and enacting a plan that will gamble benefits in the stock market, we should be working on a plan to make Social Security stable for the long term.”
Congressman Payne has clearly stated that he is opposed to any suggested Social Security overhaul that includes private accounts. Instead, he believes the program should be strengthened for future generations without slashing the benefits that Americans have earned. The Republican privatization proposal hurts all Americans, and would lead to trillions in debt.
Constituents can access the web calculator here. |
