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Positions and Views on Other Issues where Information is Available: |
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| Social Security & Pensions |
Positions and Views |
| Social Security, a General Statement |
Lott: Social Security is a tractor, a workhorse system pulling a big load, but it’s old. It’s slowly burning oil and running low. For years we’ve been running it harder and harder. All the while we have less and less workers to oil the machine – to pay the benefits of the growing number of retirees. We have two choices: We can just pour in more taxes, Washington’s version of oil, or we can overhaul the system so that it won’t require more oil, additional taxes from you.
Liberals and conservatives alike know that Social Security needs attention. The signs are clear. The 70-year-old Social Security machine is smoking badly, giving us ample warning that it needs an overhaul. Since this machine was built in the 1930s, the worker-to-retiree ratio – or the number of workers needed to support the benefits of a single retiree – has dwindled dramatically. Where we once asked 40 workers to pay the benefits of one retiree, soon we will only have two workers to support each retiree. With every passing moment Social Security is running hotter, using more oil, wearing more as fewer workers are there to lubricate the machine, to carry the ever-increasing load. And, what’s more concerning, we’re about to take this old, inefficient, heated machine and start running it harder than ever, as masses of baby boomers begin retiring in three years.
We all agree that Social Security is a good machine. It doesn’t need replacing, but it does need serious overhaul. Let’s do it now and do it right.
Source: Candidate Website Date: 10/07/2006 |
| Long Term Viability of Social Security |
Lott: No Response |
| Privatizing Social Security |
Lott: The President wants to rebuild and modify Social Security before it overheats and its internal parts fracture. He doesn’t want to replace it, but restore it – to take this old but true and tested system and modernize it right, giving it a much-needed overhaul and getting it ready for all the daunting work ahead.
He wants to make it a more comfortable, user-friendly system by allowing younger workers to voluntarily take a portion of their Social Security and invest it, much like federal employees and members of Congress already can do with their retirement. This would allow younger workers’ money to grow much faster, giving them a fatter retirement than what the current system would ever allow. It will give the system and the users a lot more power and capacity without adding lots of new taxes.
With new internal parts, like personal savings accounts, the Social Security machine could better handle the current workload and prepare for the one ahead. Americans already in retirement and those born before 1950 would see no benefit change. All other workers could choose, if they wish, to invest a portion of their Social Security in personal retirement accounts. There’s no need to wait until the old Social Security tractor gets hot and then pour in more oil as a quick fix, a temporary patch at best.
Personal accounts by themselves can’t fix Social Security, but neither can taxes. Pouring more oil into an old and worn tractor engine just means the tractor will burn it until it needs more. We should overhaul it so that it’s better and we’re not unnecessarily taxed more. If we ignore the problem and pour in a few more taxes as some are advocating, Americans of all ages would see major benefit cuts down the road. This doesn’t have to be. We can properly fix this system now, ensuring it has many years of much more efficient service. Personal accounts are the first step in this overhaul.
Why do liberals so adamantly oppose this strategy even when pe [Response was truncated to maximum response length of 2000 characters.]
Source: Candidate Website Date: 10/07/2006 |
| Social Security Trust Fund |
Lott: No Response |
| Raising the Retirement Age or Reducing Payment Levels |
Lott: No Response |
| Means Testing for Social Security Payments |
Lott: No Response |
| Tax on Social Security Benefits |
Lott: No Response |
| Pensions, a General Statement |
Lott: No Response |
| Pension Reform |
Lott: No Response |
| Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation |
Lott: No Response |
| Corporate Defined Benefit Pension Defaults |
Lott: No Response |
| Key Employee Retention Plans |
Lott: No Response |
| Individual Retirement Accounts |
Lott: No Response |
| 401(k) Plans |
Lott: No Response |
| Savers' Credit |
Lott: No Response |
| Other Retirement Improvements |
Lott: No Response |