After a mild winter in Washington, spring has returned to our nation's capital. As flowers bloom and birds whisper a sweet song in the morning air, new life begins. In the political world new life can be witnessed by the rejuvenated bickering between political figures and activists too weak to ever turn their battles into physical confrontation.
It has been five months since November elections, and once again Republicans and Democrats are hitting the road for political campaigning. This time, however, it is an unprecedented battle over the fate and future of Social Security. This has become a front issue for the White House, which has noted that with some changes now, a larger problem can be avoided down the road.
Although nothing is set in stone, President Bush has suggested the idea of enabling a younger generation to put money in private accounts. This will give Americans the opportunity to invest their money and reach the full potential of their retirement dreams. Republicans have set up local town halls to enable individuals to not only understand more about the current plan but to also throw in ideas of their own.
The real selling point for this issue is simple. If something isn't done, not only will there not be enough money for future generations, but the problem will continue to grow. If you do not like the plan, that is fine, but do not pretend that this is not a problem. The current one has been fine in the past, but its flaws have been exposed in the year 2005.
Another idea suggested has been to raise the retirement age. That would obviously cut down the amount we spend on retired seniors. However, it would just be unfair to older generations. Seniors over 65 will have their money without question; they will not be affected. Why would we hassle their retirement plans because we never addressed problems before now? Not to mention that there is no group more fearsome than a bus from the retirement home converging on town hall.
Matching the Republicans' recent strategies, Democrats have avoided helping or proposing ideas of their own to campaign against Republican efforts by depicting catastrophic outcomes. One of their more clich?d promotions involves the Titanic going down.
It continues to baffle me that a group with so few ideas other than how to market negative advertisement campaigns can have so much power. It is similar to a group of students in a classroom who have passed in no work all semester, but their participation in class convinces the professor that they are somehow deserving of a passing grade.
Since the Social Security Act passed in 1935, it has been the backbone for family retirement plans in our nation. It was originally created to aid workers with poor financial situations as a result of the Great Depression. Since that time, the bill has been modified more than 20 times, including the addition of Medicare in 1965.
It truly would be a shame to watch all the good that this bill has done go down the drain. However, considering it has been modernized in the past, it is clear that another adjustment is necessary. Bush's plan right now puts future planning in the individual's own hands. Democratic philosophy in general is that individuals are incapable of doing things without government or at least outside help (think about it, it's true). Whether individuals are competent enough to do this on their own is yet to be seen, but for people who can take care of themselves, this is a great opportunity.
In a time when all members of Congress could be working together to find an optimal solution to this problem, we are back at each other's throats. I believe this is a perfect example of why we are lucky to have retained George W. Bush in the White House. Despite constant criticism from various parties, he continues to promote his ideas to the benefit of American citizens. While agreeing on the war in Iraq may be one thing we debate until it is outdated in textbooks, Social Security has a running clock. If we can unite for one day to get this matter resolved, then we should all pray that day comes soon.
