Time for Conservatives to Lead on Social Security

This piece orginally appeared as an op-ed in the Shreveport Times.

When I played football for the University of Oklahoma, our coaches always told us the same thing before big games: Let’s leave it all out on the field.

They were urging us to give it our all on every play. They knew that the only thing tougher than losing was coming back to the locker room wondering what might have been if we had run just a little harder or made just one more block.

Leave it all on the field we did. And this attitude propelled us to three consecutive Orange Bowl victories.

Watching the Social Security reform debate unfold, I have been reminded of my coaches’ wisdom.

Social Security is careening toward bankruptcy. When it was created in 1935, there were more than 40 workers paying in for every person receiving benefits. Today, there are only three workers paying in for every worker taking out. And that ratio continues to drop. The current system is simply unsustainable.

However, despite conclusive evidence that Social Security must be fixed, many in the political arena— including, sadly, some conservatives— are resisting reform. Some Democrats see an opportunity to score political points. Some Republicans seem to be afraid to get in the game.

Make no mistake about it: those who choose to play politics instead of taking action are ensuring that our children and grandchildren will face immense tax hikes and devastating benefit cuts.

How can any conservative stand by and let this happen?

When I went to Congress following the 1994 elections that gave Republicans a majority in the House for the first time in forty years, we were determined to enact reforms that would extend opportunity to all Americans while limiting the reach of government. We certainly didn’t come to play Washington politics.

Against scathing criticism from the defenders of the status quo, we reduced the tax burden on working families and balanced the budget for the first time in decades. We reformed welfare, giving hope to millions by replacing a handout with a paycheck. We took a stand and the American people are better off because of it.

The debate on Social Security requires that kind of leadership— and more. This is the Super Bowl of domestic policy.

Social Security met the needs of the distant era when it was created and has provided dignity to seniors for generations. But times and demographics change, and this program designed in the 1930s can’t meet the challenges of the 21st Century.

We must maintain the current system and benefits for seniors and those nearing retirement, while offering new voluntary personal retirement accounts so that younger workers have the chance to build nest eggs of their own.

Personal retirement accounts would expand opportunity to millions of younger workers from all walks of life. These accounts could also be passed on to children and grandchildren, ensuring that no family gets shortchanged by Social Security.

The Social Security reform debate encompasses everything for which we conservatives have fought for so long: family values, economic opportunity and fiscal responsibility. We have a precious opportunity to improve the lives of all Americans. We have a president with the boldness to lead. The big question is whether we have the courage of our convictions.

My message for conservatives is clear. Let’s fix Social Security now. Let’s do right by our parents and grandparents. Let’s open the door to ownership for all Americans. Let’s put our fiscal house in order. And as the political battle heats up, let’s leave it all out on the field.

J.C. Watts, who served eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives, serves on the National Advisory Board of the Coalition to Modernize and Protect America’s Social Security (CoMPASS). FreedomWorks is a member of CoMPASS.