Strength in Numbers

America heads into the Labor Day weekend with great uncertainty. A war with Iraq may be on the horizon. The economy could be on the road to recovery, or slipping back into recession. The most recent data shows consumer confidence is dropping, but consumer spending on durable goods surging. The country’s mood is undecided with the people almost evenly split on the question of “is the country headed in the right direction or wrong direction?” A baseball strike looms. And, we don’t even know if Steve Spurrier’s offense will work in the NFL.

This cannot go on much longer. The decision on Iraq is, for the most part, in the hands of the Commander-in-Chief. The fate of the economy, at least in the short run, is out of every one’s hands. But just about everything else – every other big decision is in the hands of the American people. And, we the people will speak on November 5th.

How do you plan to do to make a difference in this election? I have one suggestion that could make a huge difference. The leaders of the Democrat party have decided to make Social Security their big issue. They plan to spend millions of dollars on television and radio ads attacking their opponents in an attempt to kill Social Security reform. We can stop them.

An intellectual ally and sister organization of CSE’s, the Cato Institute, recently conducted some important polling on the issue of Social Security. Their findings are revealing for several reasons. First, 69 percent of likely voters believe the system is in need of either a major overhaul or some reform. That finding is consistent with years of polling that shows the overwhelmingly majority of Americans understand that Social Security is headed towards bankruptcy.

Cato’s poll, conducted during the worst week of the corporate accounting scandals and stock market collapse, found strong and wide spread support for personal retirement accounts. In fact, 68% of likely voters support “changing the Social Security system to give young workers the choice to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes through individual accounts similar to IRAs or 401 (k) plans.” More interestingly, when the polling is broken down into different demographic groups, support stays strong and widespread.

Support for personal retirement accounts varies by age, but all age groups (except one subgroup) support it. Not surprisingly, 82 percent of 18-29 year olds support personal retirement accounts. What may be more surprising, likely voters over the age of 65 support personal retirement accounts 54.5% to 39.6 percent. (support drops below 50% for those over the age of 70).

Democrats, Republicans, independents, whites, blacks, Hispanics, union members, liberals, conservatives and moderates – all support personal retirement accounts. The number one reason people gave for supporting personal retirement accounts was a quintessentially American value – “I control the money in my account.” The people trust themselves more than they trust the government.

So why would the Democrat party adopt opposition Social Security reform as their main issue for the make-or-break midterm elections? The numbers suggest that candidates who support personal retirement accounts should have a huge advantage over their opponents. But Republican party leaders are advising candidates both publicly and privately to play defense on Social Security. What’s going on?

It boils down to the great unease and uncertainty politicians are feeling right now. America is undecided about the two political parties. The American people are uneasy about their economic future. We could be headed into a war with Iraq. Basically, the politicians can’t decide what the American people are going to do on November 5, and with party control so closely divided, one minor political slip-up and your party could lose control of the Congress.

So the politicians are playing it safe. Democrats want to go back to their tried and true formula – scare seniors. Even Cato’s poll demonstrates that voters over the age of 70 do not support personal retirement accounts. And, one thing the politicians do know is that people over the age of 70 vote. The politicians, like the rest of us, are uncertain right now about whom else besides senior citizens are going to vote. So millions of dollars will be spent telling senior voters a great big lie – that personal retirement accounts put their Social Security check at risk.

Those of us who support personal retirement accounts need to educate our friends and neighbors – not just about Social Security, but also about the importance of voting. We’ve already won the intellectual argument. We’ve already won popular support for the idea. Now we have to build political support. Amidst all this great uncertainty, we need to join together as citizens and make sure Social Security reform becomes a winning political issue. Send a letter to the editor. Sign CSE’s Social Security petition. Go to candidate forums or events and ask the single most difficult question you can ask an opponent of personal retirement accounts: “What is your plan to save Social Security?” Do you want to develop a Social Security phone tree? Call CSE at 1-888- JOIN CSE and we’ll help you get it done. We can help you organize and provide you with materials for local neighborhood literature drops.

In a time of close divisions and great uncertainty and low voter turnout, it will be the actions of small groups of people who will make a defining difference. I ask that you consider being a part of the patriots who saved Social Security reform for today and future generations. Have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend.