A majority of the U.S. public already has access to thousands of separate add-on accounts in the form of 401(k) and Roth IRA investments. The president's plan allows the poorest among us to join the investing class and reap the benefits of the market and compound interest, which Albert Einstein called "the most powerful force in the universe."
To compound their hypocrisy, Democrats are attempting to rewrite the definitions of bipartisan and solvency. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., stated, "If the president takes privatization off, if he makes a commitment to the future of Social Security, we're ready to sit down on a bipartisan basis and put everything on the table."
Bush and some Republicans have already brought ideas and plans to the table. Democrats have offered nothing but scare tactics, distortions, and to just say no to everything. If Democrats continue the business-as-usual approach they will never get to the table, and our grandchildren will suffer.
Personal retirement accounts as proposed by the president are the first step to fixing the solvency crisis and allowing more people access to economic freedom. The market has never once lost money in any 20-year period. Personal account plans have worked in Galveston County, Texas, and the country of Chile for well over 20 years, and have provided their beneficiaries rates of return hundreds of times higher than Social Security over the same period.
Congressional Democrats' opposition to allowing all U.S. workers access to economic freedom through the same investment options they currently enjoy is nothing short of immoral and dishonest. What is worse, they are seeking a short-term political victory by pitting grandparents versus their grandchildren and purposely trying to confuse both on the facts of the Social Security crisis and the benefits of investing.
Obviously, long-term solvency of the Social Security system is not the Democrats' true long-term goal. Solvency cannot be achieved by reducing benefits, increasing taxes, and increasing government spending. Instead, their hidden goal is increased control of your life, which is achieved by controlling an ever-growing share of your money.
If we do not change the Social Security structure now, in 15 years the problem will be bigger, the taxes needed to prop up the system will increase, benefits will decrease, and true solvency will be an impossible goal.
Maybe that's the other dirty little secret they don't want you to know.
Herman Cain is chief executive officer of T.H.E. New Voice, Inc. and New Voters Alliance, and host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show The Bottom Line with Herman Cain. He is past chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and past chairman and CEO of the National Restaurant Association.