Retirement Security Program

Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee. My name is Maya MacGuineas and I am a Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank here in Washington, where I work on fiscal policy. Thank you for inviting me to testify today. It is a privilege to appear before the Committee.

The Social Security Trustees' Report is the single most important and influential source of information about the financial health of the Old-Age and… more

In the wake of the Enron scandal, the retirement savings of many Americans are now seen as less secure. The need to reform our current pension policies, including 401(k) plans, is emerging as a national priority. Legislation has already passed the House and will soon be debated in the Senate.

Senators Grassley and Corzine will present their views on current legislation to remedy the current state of 401K plans -- and on the larger context of retirement security. … more

No sooner has the ineffective and unlamented "lockbox" gone to its grave than the next Social Security gimmick enters the scene.

Congressional Republicans are promoting legislation to issue certificates to each new retiree to "guarantee" their Social Security benefits would never be cut. Designed to make necessary reforms more palatable, these guarantees are little more than a P.R. stunt and, worse, one that is likely to backfire. Even today, as criticism of guarantee legislation mounts, Republican leaders hope to sneak it… more

The debate about whether to included private investment accounts as a part of Social Security got ratcheted up another notch with the release of the Presidential Commission's report. Yet the hot-button issue of whether to invest part of Social Security's money in the stock market does not replace the basic question of how to balance the under funded program. Creating personal accounts would change the timing and magnitude of the program's deficits -- currently projected to be $17 trillion over… more

It is more than a tad ironic that some members of Congress are pushing for a temporary "payroll tax holiday" at the same time the Presidential Social Security Commission is trying to find a way to pay for the trillions of dollars in unfunded benefits the nation's retirement system is facing.

Certainly, the tax holiday idea, whereby both employers and employees would be exempt from paying their share of the 12.4 percent payroll tax for a month, has many things going… more

Sounding an alarm bell about the nation's safety net -- "the system is not sustainable as currently structured" -- the report offered three potential options to set Social Security back on the road to insolvency. Each involved diverting a portion of Social Security payroll taxes out of government bonds (in which they're now invested) and into private accounts, which could hold stocks and bonds.

It concluded: "Carpe diem!"

Not Much Optimism Now

Good news for investors, right? After all, market pundits have long… more

After September 11th, cash flowed into the coffers of assisting charities. But it has been gushing out of the federal treasury.

In the seven weeks after the attack, Congress has approved measures to bail out the airlines ($5 billion), aid the reconstruction of New York and the Pentagon ($20 billion), and to support increased homeland security and war-related efforts ($20 billion). Still to come are new investments in public health and security infrastructure, aid for the insurance industry, and… more

Good morning members of the Commission. My name is Maya MacGuineas and I am a Fellow at the New America Foundation, a non-partisan think tank in Washington DC, where I work on fiscal policy. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. I realize that most of the country’s attention is focused on more immediate threats -- as is only appropriate. But it is important that at the same time, we take action to address the longer-term threats… more

Early last December, as the postelection fracas neared its end, the conservative Progress and Freedom Foundation hosted a one-day Washington conference on the future of communications. The event drew a Who's Who of telecom lobbyists, elite members of prestigious K Street firms that represent companies like Verizon, AT&T, and Viacom, The top draw was a keynote speech by Michael K. Powell, a member of the Federal Communications Commission who was widely expected to become the agency's next chairman.

The high-powered… more