Text 624, 578 rader
Skriven 2005-03-11 23:32:48 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0503112) for Fri, 2005 Mar 11
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President Participates in Social Security Conversation in Tennessee
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 11, 2005

President Participates in Social Security Conversation in Tennessee
Canon Center for the Performing Arts
Memphis, Tennessee


˙˙˙˙˙In Focus: Social Security

10:21 A.M. CST

THE PRESIDENT: Gosh, thanks for the warm welcome. It's great to be here in
Memphis, Tennessee. What a fabulous city you've got. (Applause.) One of our
panelists here was saying that he got up at 4:30 a.m. this morning, trying
to prepare some remarks for today, some interesting thoughts about Social
Security. And I said, I'm glad it wasn't you I heard at 4:30 a.m. --
evidently there's a basketball tournament here? (Laughter.) Some of the
victorious fans were pleased with the results yesterday. (Applause.)

But I'm honored to be here. Memphis is a fabulous place. I wish Laura were
with me today. (Applause.) She's doing great, by the way. She's obviously a
patient woman, to be married to me. (Laughter.) She's a wonderful mom, a
fantastic wife and she's doing a whale of a job as our country's First Lady
and I'm really proud of her. (Applause.)

We're here to talk about Social Security. And I've got some other things on
my mind I want to share with you, but before we talk about anything, I do
want to thank Congressman Harold Ford for being here. I'm honored you're
here, Congressman. (Applause.) I appreciate your service to this great
city. Just about every time I see him, he says to me, you need to get over
to Memphis; we've got a great town full of fantastic people. Congressman,
I'm honored you're here.

Mayor A.C. Wharton, thank you for being here, I appreciate you coming.
(Applause.) Thank you, sir. Got a lot of friends -- I see the sheriff, he's
here. It's always important to say hello -- hi, Sheriff. Bishop G.E.
Patterson is here. I'm honored you're here, Bishop Patterson. Thank you for
coming. (Applause.)

I want to thank a lot of the other friends of mine in the clergy who are
here. You know, when we talk about the role of religion in society, it's
always important to emphasize that one of the things makes us great is that
we separate the church and the state, that you're equally American if you
choose to worship or not worship. You're equally American if you're a
Christian, Jew, Muslim or Sikh, whatever you choose to do. But one of the
things I think is important is to include faith-based programs in the
healing of hearts so that America can be a hopeful place. I do not fear the
influence of faith in our society. I welcome faith. (Applause.)

And over the next four years, we'll continue to work with the generals and
colonels and sergeants and privates in the army of compassion, to help
change our country one heart and one soul at a time. If you want to serve
America, feed the hungry, find shelter for the homeless. If you want to do
something patriotic, mentor a child and teach him or her how to read. If
you want to make America a better place, put your arm around somebody hurt
- who hurts and says, I love you, brother; or, I love you, sister, and I'm
here to help you. No, America's great strength is the hearts and soul of
our citizens. And we must continue to rally that great strength to make
America a better place. (Applause.)

I do want to talk a little bit about foreign policy. For the youngster
here, I hope you pay attention to what you're saying. What you're seeing is
an amazing moment in the history of freedom. (Applause.) Because we acted
to defend ourselves, we liberated Afghanistan from the Taliban. And
millions of people voted -- (applause) -- voted in a presidential election.
I met with one of the ministers, a female minister from Afghanistan the
other day. She came into the Oval Office. She said she was looking forward
to this moment to see me and Laura so that she could share with me her
great gratitude about the fact that she could live in a free society. And I
said to her, I'm going to be traveling the country and I'm going to share
your thanks with the American people.

So on behalf of this minister, this woman serving in the cabinet, this
person who loves freedom, this person who has a chance to realize her
dreams, she says thanks -- thanks to the millions who now live in a free
society. (Applause.)

I believe there will be a Palestinian democracy living side by side with
Israel in peace. I believe that the actions taken by millions of Iraqi
citizens in the face of incredible terrorist threats sent a clear signal to
people around the world, that freedom is a beautiful thing. (Applause.) The
reason I bring this up is I want everybody to understand that we'll defend
our security; we'll utilize our great military and our intelligence
gathering capabilities to defend our country. We're united in the United
States -- with the United States Congress in this objective. All of us in
Washington understand that we have a solemn duty to protect our country.
But in the long run, the way to defeat the ideologues of hate is to spread
freedom and democracy. Freedom is moving around the world. Deep in
everybody's soul is the great desire to live in freedom, and the United
States of America, working with friends and allies, must use our influence
to continue the march of freedom for the sake of peace for generati

Some good news in the economy last week. We added 262,000 new jobs last
month. There are more people working in America than ever before in our
nation's history. (Applause.)

But there's more work to do. I gave a speech in Columbus, Ohio, on
Wednesday. I said, you know, I reminded the folks that when I first got
into office I sent an energy plan to the United States Congress. I was
concerned then, like I am concerned now, about high gasoline prices; about
our dependency upon foreign sources of energy. Congress has been debating
this issue now for four years. It's time to stop the rhetoric and stop the
debate and get an energy plan to my desk that will encourage conservation,
that will encourage renewable sources of energy, that will modernize the
electricity grid, that will allow us to explore for oil and gas in
environmentally friendly ways in the United States, that will make us less
dependant on foreign sources of energy. (Applause.)

But the main reason I've asked you to come and asked our panelists to
appear with me is because I want to talk about Social Security. First of
all, let me tell you, I understand that for years Social Security was the
third rail of American politics. That meant if you grabbed a hold of it,
you weren't going to do well politically. In other words, if you talked
about it, people would then say, well, really, what he's going to do, he's
going to take away the checks of our seniors. But you'll hear me describe
the fact that I believe the system needs to be reformed, and I'll tell you
why. And I believe political people, when they see a problem, have a duty
to address that problem and not to pass that problem on to future
Presidents and future Congress. I ran for office to solve problems.
(Applause.)

Some in Congress say, I wish you hadn't have brought up the issue, it may
cause us to make a tough vote. Others in Congress have said, well, we
really don't have any problem. That's how democracy works. There is
difference of opinion. And I've got mine, and I'm going to continue
traveling our country until it becomes abundantly clear to the American
people we have a problem and it's abundantly clear to those who will
receive Social Security checks that nothing is going to change. So I want
to start by saying to the seniors here in Tennessee and folks listening on
your television set that for you -- for those of you receiving a check
today, and for those of you, like me, near retirement, nothing is going to
change for you. You will get your check. I don't care what the TV ads say.
I don't care what the propaganda say. You're going to get your check.
(Applause.)

It's important for people to understand that, because I fully understand a
lot of people depend solely on their Social Security check for retirement.
I know that. When I was the governor of Texas I knew that. And I know that
as the President of the United States. A lot of people are depending upon
the check, and the Social Security system is working for them. There is a
safety net. The problem is the safety has got a hole in it for younger
Americans. The safety net is secure for older Americans. (Applause.)
Franklin Roosevelt did a good thing when he set up Social Security. It has
worked. And so the discussion today is not to get rid of Social Security;
the discussion today is to build on what Franklin Roosevelt put in place,
to understand that things have changed since his presidency.

You see, Social Security worked for years because there were a lot of
workers putting money into the system through their payroll taxes to pay
for a limited number of beneficiaries. Matter of fact, in 1950, there were
16 workers per beneficiary. And the system works when it's that way. For
example, you'll see on that chart, for somebody who is making $14,200 in
benefits on an annual basis that means the worker will pay $900 to help
that one person. Today, there is only 3.3 workers putting into the system.
In other words, we got fewer workers paying per beneficiary. That obviously
means costs are going up -- and, particularly given this fact, baby boomers
like me are getting ready to retire. Mine happens to be -- my retirement
age comes up in 2008, which is quite convenient. (Laughter and applause.)

I'll be 62 years old in 2008. And there's a lot like me. And there's more
coming. And we're living longer than people during Franklin Roosevelt's
time and during the '50s. And we've been promised greater benefits than the
previous generations. So think about this: fewer workers paying into the
system -- 3.3 per beneficiary now, soon to be 2 workers per beneficiary --
paying for a lot of baby boomers, like me, who have been promised greater
benefits and we're living longer. And that's the math.

That's why I say there's a hole in the safety net. And that hole exists for
the people coming up, because that system can't sustain itself. It you look
at this chart over here, you'll see that in 2018, more money is coming --
going out of the system than coming in. More money in 2020, 2029, $200
billion a year will be going out of the system than coming in. More money
in '37 will be coming out of the system, coming every year, it gets worse
and worse and worse because there are baby boomers like me, more of us than
ever before, drawing benefit -- larger benefits and living longer.

So we have a problem for a younger generation. Imagine somebody who's
looking at this chart. They're going to say, what are you going to do about
it, Mr. President? What are you going to do about it? And so I stood up in
front of the Congress and said, we have a problem. And I think I was the
first President ever to say, all options are on the table. I said there's
been some interesting ideas. Congressman Tim Penny, when he was a Democrat
Congressman from Minnesota, put some interesting ideas on the table.
President Clinton, my predecessor, put some interesting ideas on the table.
Democrat Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan from New York put some interesting
ideas on the table.

I have an obligation to say to people from both parties, let's fix this
permanently. Let's don't slap a band-aid on the problem. Let us fix it
permanently and all ideas, bring them forward -- and I'm interested in
listening. There will be no political retribution when you put an idea on
the table. As a matter of fact, you will get kudos. In Washington, D.C.,
there's still partisan talk. There is still people saying, well, I'm not so
sure I want to get involved. My call to people from both political parties
is now is the time to put aside our political differences and focus on
solving this problem for generations of Americans to come. (Applause.)

I do want to talk about an interesting idea that I have discussed with
others. Now, I have an obligation to participate in the dialogue. I don't
get to write the legislation, by the way. Members of the Senate and the
House will write the legislation. But I have an -- I've got some ideas that
I'd like for people to consider, and one of them is to allow younger
workers to take some of their own money and set it aside in a personal
retirement account, a savings account. (Applause.)

And let me tell you why I like the idea. Here's why I like the idea. First
of all, we'll discuss -- and Congressman Penny will discuss this -- about
the notion of compounding rate of interest. That means if you're able to
get a reasonable rate of return on your money, then over time, it grows
exponentially. In other words, if you're able to set aside some of your own
money in a conservative mix of stocks and bonds, you'll get a better rate
of return on that money than you would on the rate of return that the
government gets for you. And it's that difference that, over time,
compounds.

So take, for example, a person making $35,000 a year over his or her
lifetime, and if he or she were allowed to set aside 4 percent of the
payroll tax in a personal savings account, by the time he or she retired,
there will be $250,000 as a part of the retirement system. That's what
compounding rate of interest does. (Applause.)

People say, well, I'm not so sure I know how to invest. You know, there's
kind of this notion that there is an investor class in America. That sounds
a little limited to me, that only a certain number -- certain type of
person can invest. I don't subscribe to that notion. I believe everybody
has got -- should have the opportunity to invest, and I believe everybody
can invest. (Applause.)

Now, when you say personal account, you can't take the money and put it in
the lottery. (Laughter.) You've got a lottery in Tennessee? Right down the
road. Well, you can't do that. Matter of fact, there would be a prescribed
set of types of stocks and bonds. Obviously, we're not going to let people
take their money and gamble it out. And we've done this before. See, this
isn't new ground. After all, a lot of people invest their own money in
401(k)s. There's an investor class growing way beyond the concepts of the
investor class. In other words, Defined Contributions Plans are spreading
out all over America. People are used to this concept. Federal employees
get to do this through the Federal Employee Thrift Savings Plan. In other
words, the federal government has said to employees, hey, you get to invest
some of your own money, if you choose, in a conservative mix of stocks and
bonds.

So this concept has been around. We're not -- this is an interesting --
this isn't something brand new. This is an idea that ought to happen for
Social Security, as well as other retirement -- as it happened in other
retirement funds.

Thirdly, we want people owning something. I love the fact that more people
now own their home than ever before in our nation's history. (Applause.) I
like the fact when there are more entrepreneurs from all walks of life;
people saying, I own my own business. That's the important part. How about
letting people own a stake of the future of the country by having the
ownership in their own retirement plan? And that's what we're talking
about: ownership. (Applause.)

Finally, I like the idea of being -- somebody being able to accumulate
assets and pass it on to their heirs. Provides for stability in society.
Now, ownership ought not to be limited. It ought to be spread around in our
society.

And, finally, there's a macroeconomic benefit when more people save, like
they would be doing through their personal accounts. It provides more
capital for investment. And capital is necessary for the expansion of small
business. Capital helps fuel the entrepreneurial spirit of America. The
more savings, the more capital, the more jobs.

So this is an idea that I want Congress to take a look at, in the spirit of
all ideas ought to be put on the table. I'm looking forward to the
discussions with members of both political parties. I've got a lot of work
to do in the meantime. I'm going to Louisiana after this. Next week, I'll
be traveling down to Florida, checking on the brother. (Laughter.) And then
I'm going to be going out -- then I'll be going out west. And I'm going to
campaign for Social Security, because I told you earlier, we have a duty in
Congress to do something about this before it becomes too late, before we
saddle an entire generation with a problem we cannot solve. (Applause.)

Ready to go? I want to thank Tim Penny for being here. Elected to the
United States from Minnesota. Knows the subject really well. Congressman,
thanks for coming. I'm proud you're here. Thanks for joining us.
(Applause.)

CONGRESSMAN PENNY: You bet. You bet. Mr. President, thank you, first, for
putting this issue on top of the agenda because it is an urgent issue, and
it's one that needs to be addressed sooner than later. Doing nothing is not
an option.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: I want to thank Congressman Penny for sharing with us.
(Applause.) As I mentioned, he was -- he is a Democrat. But this is the
spirit of Republicans and Democrats coming together to solve this problem
that is needed. Nothing is going to happen unless people from both
political parties make the decision to join together and come up with a
serious solution. And I want people to understand that.

And I really want to thank Tim. He's been very active in this issue for a
long period of time. Occasionally he's able to make time to join the
presidential road show to take this issue to the people, and he adds a lot
of class to the road show I want you to know. (Laughter.) He's going to
down to Louisiana with me a little later on today. So thanks for being
here, Tim.

We're going to start with Mary Hines from -- where you live, Mary?

MS. HINES: I live in Hickory Withe, Tennessee.

THE PRESIDENT: Hickory Withe, that's interesting.

MS. HINES: A very small community. We're unincorporated. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Sounds like half the town came. (Laughter.) How many people
live there?

MS. HINES: About two or three thousand.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, that's good, yes. Four times bigger than Crawford.
(Laughter.) Thanks for joining us.

MS. HINES: Thank you, I'm glad to be here.

THE PRESIDENT: Are you receiving any Social Security?

MS. HINES: Yes, I am. I've worked for 40 years as a secretary. My husband
worked 40 years for DuPont. And we're both drawing Social Security.

THE PRESIDENT: And is it important to you?

MS. HINES: It is very important. It is part of our retirement plan.

THE PRESIDENT: Good. Are you worried about the reforms taking it away from
you?

MS. HINES: No, in fact, we -- as we understand it, this is -- the reforms
will not affect us. However, my children -- like you -- are in the baby
boomer era when they retire. So this will affect them somewhat. But,
basically, it will affect my grandchildren and my great grandchildren. So
it's some --

THE PRESIDENT: No, I appreciate -- sorry to interrupt. Now that I have, I
better say something. (Laughter.) She has a vital point. There are a lot of
grandmothers who are justifiably concerned about what Social Security means
to their grandchildren. This is a generation where Social Security has
worked. She and her husband are getting help from the Social Security
system. After all, it's their money coming back to them.

And I can't tell you how many times I've heard from people once we have
assured citizens that nothing changes for them, that, what are you going to
do about my grandchildren. This is a generational issue. It is an issue
that is very important for members of Congress to understand that a lot of
grandparents care deeply about not only their own security, but once
they're -- once they're assured, they care deeply about the security of
their grandchildren. And I want to thank you for sharing that with us.
(Applause.)

Anything else you want to --

MS. HINES: Well, I look at your chart over here, and I would like to thank
those workers who are helping pay my Social Security right now.

THE PRESIDENT: That's right. (Laughter.) That would be me and a lot of
other people. (Applause.) Good news is, they're going to keep paying, and
you'll keep getting your check.

Beverly Peterson is with us. She's got a very interesting story. Ready to
go? You look like you're ready to go. (Laughter.)

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, let me -- thank you for sharing that with us. What
Beverly is saying is, is that she was too young for the survivor benefits
and therefore the money that he put into the system -- "he" being the
husband -- there was nothing there. And because she has contributed to the
Social Security system, when she retires, you'll get the benefits because
of your check, because of your contributions, not because of your husband's
contributions.

Personal accounts -- think about what personal accounts would have done for
Beverly: the husband works, puts money aside since 16 years old. What age
was he when he passed away?

MS. PETERSON: Forty-nine.

THE PRESIDENT: Forty-nine years old, so that's 33 years of compounding rate
of interest, 33 years of that money set aside would grow. And when he
passed away, there is an asset base for Beverly that she gets, and she can
live on it, it'll help her transition to her days of retirement. In other
words, that's one of the benefits of being able to accumulate your own
assets that, as Tim said, you call your own. And when it's your own asset,
you can pass it on to whomever you choose.

The system is an important system today, but it has got holes in the safety
net. And one of the holes in the safety net is a widow like Beverly did not
have any assets when her husband passed away.

Thank you for sharing that story with us. Good job. (Applause.)

Pastor Andrew Jackson. Welcome, Pastor Jackson.

PASTOR JACKSON: Thank you, Mr. President. I'm delighted to be here. Thanks
for the invitation.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we're glad you're here. You pastor what church, sir?

PASTOR JACKSON: Faith Temple Ministries Church of God and Christ.

THE PRESIDENT: Great.

PASTOR JACKSON: My bishop is Bishop G.E. Patterson and --

THE PRESIDENT: Bishop Patterson, a fine man. (Applause.) Good. How's the
congregation doing?

PASTOR JACKSON: Doing quite well. It's kind of like the city bus -- we have
some getting on and some getting off. (Laughter and applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: The difference in your case is, the fare is free.
(Laughter.)

PASTOR JACKSON: Yes, that's true.

THE PRESIDENT: Tell me why you're here. Thanks for coming, I'm honored. I
want to hear your views on Social Security.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: That's called political propaganda.

PASTOR JACKSON: Oh, political -- okay, political propaganda. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: That's what they said when I ran for President in 2000. I
actually brought the issue up. They said, if he gets elected, he's going to
take away your check. It didn't happen. Everybody got their checks. That's
why propaganda -- that's empty. That means --

PASTOR JACKSON: It's empty.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, there's no truth to it. Go ahead.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: See, here's what I like. I like the idea that the Pastor is
thinking about generations to come. And he said, I'm worried about my
grandchildren, my great-grandchildren, and I hope there's a system that
develops that encourages asset accumulation so generation-to-generation
assets can be passed on. That hasn't happened for many in our history. No,
that hasn't been the case throughout the history of the United States. We
haven't encouraged asset formulation. There hasn't been wealth passed from
one generation to the next in certain parts of our society.

That's just the truth. And it seems like to me that it makes sense for us
to come together and encourage a plan that does just that, that provides
continuity from one generation to the next when it comes to assets. We want
people owning something. I don't care where they're from, what political
party they associate with, what neighborhood they live in. The more people
own something, the better off America is, and the ability to pass assets
from one generation to the next is an important part of our legacy.
(Applause.)

Let me tell you one other thing, and then we've got two other panelists
here. This system -- and I want to work with members of both parties to
make sure this system takes care of our poorer workers. In other words, we
can design the benefit structure for that which exists in a way that
recognizes some people work all their life and will have to live below the
poverty level upon retirement. And we don't want that in America. There are
ways to make sure this system provides a solid safety net.

Tim understands that. Harold understands that. All of us can work on this
system. So I want to assure you, Pastor, that not only will the system
encourage asset accumulation, but we want to make sure that whatever Social
Security system exists, that when we permanently fix it, that people are
given a true safety net, that the whole is fixed in the safety net, and
that there is a safety net for retirees. (Applause.)

Harry Summer. Harry, thanks for coming.

MR. SUMMER: Thank you, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: I understand you were a professor at one time.

MR. SUMMER: Yes, sir, I was a professor of marketing for 35 years at the
University of Memphis. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, fantastic. Well, you're watching me market. That's what
I'm doing right now. (Laughter.)

MR. SUMMER: Well, I have a few students in the audience, as well, I'm sure.
But it occurred to me -- I'm worried about this young lady here, not
myself.

* * * * *

MR. SUMMER: This morning about 4:15 a.m., I woke up. I had -- talked about
compound interest. And you can talk about it, but I decided I would give a
concrete example, so I went to my computer and worked on it for about 30
minutes -- longer, I think, than that. But, anyway --

THE PRESIDENT: See, I accused him of being one of the revelers outside my
hotel room. (Laughter.) He assured me he was on his computer. (Laughter.)

MR. SUMMER: Well, it's a lot easer to do it on the computer, than it is to
do it by hand.

THE PRESIDENT: That's right.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, see what -- and that's four times the amount. In other
words --

MR. SUMMER: That's four times.

THE PRESIDENT: -- the increase was four times the amount of what the
investment was because of the growth. Your money grows. And, again, I
repeat, people are going to say, well, they're going let them put it in a
risky adventures; it's risky to invest money. No, it's not. It's a much
better rate of return than the Social Security trust today. And that's --
what's risky is to leave your money in there and do nothing. That's what's
risky, particularly for younger Americans. (Applause.)

MR. SUMMER: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Karen Siegfried. Thank you very much. Karen, here you are,
got a bunch of older folks here on the stage.

MS. SIEGFRIED: That's okay.

THE PRESIDENT: It's good. Give us your story.

MS. SIEGFRIED: Well, the reason he's so concerned about me is because he's
my grandfather, so that -- (applause.) He's got a little vested interest.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: You know, somebody told me one time -- they took a poll
amongst 20-year-olders, and 20-year-old people said they thought it was
more likely they'd see a UFO than get a Social Security check. (Laughter.)
Interesting dynamic, isn't it? A lot of people say 20-year-olders don't
care about the issues. And part of my job is to make sure that they
understand the facts, because once people realize -- once the seniors
realize nothing is going to change, once Congress realizes there are a lot
of grandfathers wondering about their granddaughters and their future, once
20-year-olders and 30-year-olders start to say, wait a minute, now this is
a problem, what are you going to do about it? Those are the dynamics to get
something done.

I presume you expect Congress to get something done now, before it's too
late.

MS. SIEGFRIED: Yes, I do.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, listen, I want to thank our panelists for coming. I
thought this was an interesting dialogue. Good job. (Applause.) I want to
thank you all for giving us a chance to come report about this important
issue. I'm looking forward to working with Congress. I expect there to be a
civil dialogue and honest debate. All ideas should be on the table. The
American people are going to influence the outcome of this debate.

I want to thank the good people of Memphis for letting me come by and visit
with you about it. I want to assure you, I will continue traveling our
country, asking people to be involved, getting people to write their
congressmen and senators to say, get rid of the partisanship, sit down at
the table and modernize this system for generations to come.

God bless, and thanks for coming. (Applause.)

END 11:01 A.M. CST

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