Social Security

* Re “Saving Social Security Requires Reform, Not Accounting Tricks,” by Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) (Orange County Voices, March 5):

Cox writes that Social Security is “completely unfunded.” Yet virtually all government programs are completely unfunded. Our entire government operates on a pay-as-you-go system--not just Social Security. Almost all future government expenditures, no matter what is being funded, will come from future taxes and borrowing. Social Security is unique because it is currently generating huge surpluses that must, by law, be invested in U.S. Treasury bonds. Thus it has a legal claim upon the U.S. Treasury.

The worst-case scenario for Social Security is that maybe, in about 32 years, if no changes are made to the system, and if productivity declines, there will be a 25% shortfall.

In 32 years, if wages don’t change, most wage earners will suffer a shortfall. In 32 years, if we continue at the same rate of polluting and depleting our resources, we might suffer a shortfall of clean water, clean air and space. No system can remain static. We must continually adapt to changing circumstances.

Cox’s proposal for “reform,” however, deserves very careful scrutiny. Where will the money come from for the “personal retirement accounts” that he recommends? If it is carved out of the current payroll tax, a “temporary” tax would be necessary to cover the resultant shortfall in meeting ongoing Social Security obligations. Or, if Cox is proposing that the Social Security surplus be used to create individual accounts, where will the money come from for those accounts when the surplus is used up? Another huge tax, and this time a permanent one, is the only answer.

CONNIE HADDAD

Yorba Linda