Johnson presses Congress to act on Social Security
New report shows shaky future for retirement system

March 25, 2008

Today U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson (3rd Dist.-Texas) urged Congress to address the future of Social Security in the wake of a new report that shows the nation’s retirement system sliding into the red.

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We get this report every year. We know Social Security has to be fixed and yet the Democrats in Congress fail to even mention this urgent issue in their budget for next year,” said Johnson, the Social Security Subcommittee’s top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee.

The trustees’ annual report, which was released today, projects that Social Security will begin paying out more money than it takes in from payroll taxes in 2017. By 2041, the Social Security trust fund will be exhausted. The Social Security surplus begins to decline in 2011.

Last year Johnson introduced the Individual Social Security Investment Program Act of 2007. Modeled after the CATO “6.2 % Solution,” Johnson’s plan allows younger workers to split the 12.4% of an employee’s payroll tax and says – let’s share – half to the government, half to you.

“It’s time that folks in Congress took these new numbers to heart and did something to bolster the nation’s ailing retirement system. Social Security will be there for current and near retirees. It’s younger Americans who should be worried and that’s why I want Congress to take action now as Baby Boomers begin to retire,” continued Johnson, referring to the generation of Americans born after 1946.

Under Johnson’s bill, younger workers would keep 6.2 percent to invest in a personal retirement account – and take advantage of the miracle of compound interest. They would have a sizeable retirement fund and a real asset to pass on to loved ones. The government receives 6.2 percent to meet its obligations to those over 55 and to the disabled, widows, and orphans.

Johnson represents portions of Dallas and Collin Counties in North Texas.

# # #