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Guest Opinion

Is the Bush Social Security program just another attempt at clever fraud?

By Jewel Littenberg

Senior Advocate, TV Talk Show Host of "Issues, Answers and More... With Jewel" T.E.N., The Education Network, Palm Beach, Florida, and former fashion designer (more about Jewel at bottom of article)

Jan. 12, 2005 - The real battlefield concerning the privatization of Social Security is the minds of the American people.

Although Social Security's trustees predict that the trust funds will go from surplus to deficit 20-40 years from now, Michael Tanner, head of the Cato Institutes project on Social Security predicts the day of reckoning is only 13 or 15 years away. The Cato Institute is a Washington policy research and lobbying organization with libertarian leanings, that has been engaged in a long-running campaign to encourage the privatization of Social Security. In so doing it has received financial support from the likes of American Express, the American International Group, and the State Street Corporation, who has been lobbying in support of private investment accounts since the late 1990's.

The Investment Company Institute, which lobbies for the mutual fund industry has also been promoting private savings account. And, representatives from the Securities Industry Association, Charles Schwab & Company and the United States Chamber of Commerce, all members of the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security, a business coalition advocating private accounts, have begun meeting with White House staff members advocating that private accounts are not only good for the country but for business, as well.

Also active in the drive for Social Security reform is The Club for Growth, a group financed mostly by conservative business leaders who recently sent out a memorandum to its backers to support a $15 million public relations and grassroots campaign in it's effort to promote private accounts.

However, Global Action on Aging, an international grassroots citizen group that works on issues of concern to older people, calls the Bush program a "clever fraud" and predicts that the private savings accounts will generate a windfall for Wall Street brokers and investment firms.

In reference to a recent Goldman, Sachs analysis on the impending Bush Social Security plan, Global Action on Aging confirms that the entire issue could be disposed of simply by imposing a modest increase in the social security payroll tax...merely a fraction of what Bush already spent in his massive tax cut for the rich in 2001. It is their opinion that in a sense the entire "crisis" is of Bush's making.

Alan Binder, co-director of Princeton University's Center for Economic Policy Studies says "I think this is ideologically driven and it's part and parcel of what is a long-run objective, that will continue after the Bush administration, to repeal the social insurance system that we have been putting in since the New Deal".

As a caregiver for my late father, I can attest that Social Security has been the most significant reason seniors have been able to remain somewhat financially independent and less of a burden on their children. As it did for him, it has provided the safety net that has protected millions of our elders from facing poverty.

Mr. Bush would like us to believe that only stockbrokers will be the ones to save the system. He fails to mention what will happen should that market tank in time of need, nor how our elderly will be cared for should they become destitute.

Yes, the real battlefield is the minds of the American people.

Can you really trust President Bush to secure the financial well-being of the aged, when he lied to us about weapons of mass destruction, thus spending billions of dollars on a war that has created the highest deficit in the history of this country, in addition to causing thousands of unnecessary deaths?

When he promised the seniors "the same kind of health care choices federal workers have", only to create a Medicare bill that favors the pharmaceutical and healthcare companies?

When he has cut benefits, forced millions to choose between the high cost of prescription drugs or buying food, creating additional hardships for the seniors?

AARP has set up a toll-free telephone number that allows people to directly call their senators and representatives. If you want to save Social Security, make that call, before it is too late.

More About Jewel

Prior to becoming an advocate for seniors, Jewel's career was that of a fashion designer. Born in Rochester, New York she obtained a Fine Arts Degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and a degree in Fashion Design from the Traphagen School of Fashion in New York City. It was there that she established herself as an award winning fashion designer before moving to the West Palm Beach area in 1973, with her husband and young son. Shortly after she created a wholesale sportswear clothing business, Jewel of Palm Beach, which she operated for 23 years while selling to stores worldwide. It was during this time she was selected for inclusion in the Fifteenth Edition of Who's Who of American Women placing her achievements amongst those of Rose Kennedy, Barbara Walters, Sandra Day O'Connor and so many other women of accomplishment.

In 1992, she was introduced to the world of caregiving, when her mother suffered her first stroke, and died two years later. However, it was the result of her father's needs that began to surface a few years later that made her realize how many thousands of elderly were facing the same challenges, and had nobody to advocate for them. It was at this time, she decided to retire from her business and spend the remainder of her father's life taking care of his needs, as well as advocating for the needs of others. As a result, she wrote a resolution asking for "government funded in-home care for the elderly" which provides the option of remaining in one's home, as opposed to being forced to be institutionalized in a nursing home. The resolution became a bill when it was introduced to the House of Representatives by Congressman Alcee Hastings  in July, 2002.

Jewel, a well known advocate for the elderly, has written numerous articles on caregiving and is a sought-after speaker by many groups and organizations. In addition, she created and hosted an advocacy talk radio show Issues and Answers with Jewel, heard on Radio. Jewel created this show not only for the purpose of providing the latest information by a panel of experts on issues such as discount prescription drug plans, nursing home abuse, in-home care, etc., but to give the listening audience the opportunity to be heard.  The Radio show has since moved to television, on Channel 19, T.E.N.

Jewel hopes her legacy will be that of her parents — to have made a positive difference in the lives of others.

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