Ken Karls, chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party, in his piece on the opinion page of The Forum of June 24, suggests that Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., should take a leadership role in finding a solution to the Social Security problem. However, he is doing the same thing as his Democratic counterparts are doing: blame the other party for the problem. This is the reason that I am in favor of privatization of Social Security.
To find a solution to Social Security finances we need to consider the facts.
E The "pay as you go" system will not sustain Social Security and Medicare.
E Party politics between Republicans and Democrats is hindering Congress from working on a solution. Congress' "stopgap" measures of increasing retirement age, changing the formula to figure benefits, etc., will not provide a solution.
E Congress has mismanaged Social Security for the past 70 years. They have pilfered $1.8 trillion from Social Security during this time span. No plans are in place to repay.
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E Privatization takes social security and Medicare taxes out of the Federal General Fund. It is no longer available to Congress to spend as they wish. Social Security is no longer a "political football." Once set up under strict guidelines, the privately owned Social Security program would become self sustaining and financially sound.
We in the United States have the economic ability and the financial brains to plan and execute a privatization program for Social Security.
What is needed now is for Congress to get to work to enable the privatization process to begin and work towards complete privatization in the next 15 to 20 years. If a country like Chile can take ideas developed in the United States in the 1970s and set up a privatization program starting in 1980 and now in 2005 being completely privatized, then surely we can do it. Peru, Argentina and Bolivia are working on adapting the Chile program to their countries.
We need Republican and Democratic congressmen and congresswomen to put party politics aside and work together to get a program started before it becomes too late for anything. Privatization will not break the United States economy, it will only strengthen it. We deserve ownership of our retirement taxes.
Herman Winkels
Fargo
