CONTACTS:
DERRICK MAX (202) 637-3453

ED LORENZEN (202) 546-4090

NON-PARTISAN CONSENSUS CALLS FOR FACING SOCIAL SECURITY’S FINANCIAL CHALLENGES SOONER THAN LATER

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 21, 2005 – Social Security Administration Chief Actuary Steve Goss, Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Holtz-Eakin, and United States Comptroller General David Walker today agreed that Social Security faces financial challenges that should be addressed sooner than later.

This non-partisan consensus occurred at a Washington forum co-hosted by Centrists.Org and the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security.

The SSA’s Goss noted that acting sooner would provide "many more options" for fixing the problem, allow changes to be phased in gradually, and give workers "more advance notice" of the changes in retirement benefits. CBO Director Doug Holtz-Eakin and Comptroller General David Walker both noted that beginning in 2008 the Social Security surpluses begin to decline and, by the end of the next decade, the Social Security system will begin to run cash deficits that will place a burden on the general Treasury, require tax increases, cuts in other government programs or increased borrowing.

“Our goal in organizing this event was to step back from the partisan debate regarding Social Security reform and ask a more basic question: ‘Does Social Security need to be fixed?,’”  explained AWRS Executive Director Derrick Max.  “These three highly respected experts answered the question with a resounding ‘yes.’”

“In recent weeks there has been a semantic debate about whether Social Security is facing a crisis, a serious problem or something else,” said Ed Lorenzen, Centrists.Org executive director.  “Regardless of what word we use to describe it, the discussion today makes clear that Social Security is on an unsustainable course and that the sooner we act the better off we will be.”

“It’s time for Congress to heed this warning, set aside partisan bickering, and begin the difficult task of solving this problem,” added Max.

Presentations made at the Centrists.org-AWRS forum can be found at www.centrists.org, and a full transcript of the event will be posted on the same site soon. 

-AWRS-

Centrists.Org is a think tank dedicated to fostering a responsible policy debate on the issues facing our nation and helping policymakers develop solutions that could achieve lasting bipartisan support.   

The Alliance for Worker Retirement Security includes organizations such as the National Association of Manufacturers the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable and the National Federation of Independent Businesses, and the National Association of Women Business Owners.

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