Rep.
Allen hosts Social Security forum
By Patti Mikkelsen
Portland--On February 28, hundreds of citizens interested
in the future of the Social Security system accepted
U.S. Representative Tom Allen's invitation to a
forum on the subject, held on the UNE Westbrook
College Campus in Portland. The panelists shown
in the photo, along with representatives from AARP
Maine, the Maine AFL-CIO and the Maine Disability
Rights Center delivered commentary from diverse
viewpoints. 
Right, part of the panel consisted of Congressmen
Tom Allen and Mike Michaud; James Roosevelt, Jr.;
Charles Lawton, Maine Sunday Telegram Columnist;
Michael Donihue, Associate Professor of Economics
at Colby College; and Susan Feiner, Associate Professor
of Economics at USM. Photo by Howard Mikkelsen
All shared a similar opinion, that the creation
of private accounts would devastate the program.
A handout provided by James Roosevelt, Jr., the
grandson of Social Security founder Franklin D.
Roosevelt, states: "FDR believed that Social
Security should be simple, guaranteed, fair, earned,
and available to all Americans. President Roosevelt
was adamant that Social Security was an insurance
program to provide basic needs in retirement. Drastic
changes that divert the payroll tax to privatization
will almost certainly eliminate a guaranteed benefit
by crippling the ability to pay benefits, imposing
trillions of dollars of new costs on the government
and creating massive federal debt."
James
Roosevelt, Jr. considers Social Security to be the
most successful program this country has ever had.
"Today, thanks in large part to Social Security,
the number of older Americans below the poverty
line has dropped from almost 50 percent to only
8 percent.....It can be strengthened with incremental
changes. To achieve that, the Congress and the White
House must work together."
Above, James Roosevelt, Jr., FDR's grandson and
former Associate Commissioner for the Social Security
Administration, greets an attendee at a Social Security
Forum held in Portland. Congressman Mike Michaud
is pictured in center.
Photo by Patti Mikkelsen
For
more information about social security go to www.ssa.gov
For more information about Rep. Tom Allen's social
security forums go to http://tomallen.house.gov/
For more information about President Bush's position
on Social Security, go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/social-security/
