Union leaders, activist speak out against Social Security changes

Iowa union leaders and a liberal activist group are joining a nationwide campaign that hopes to derail President Bush’s push to make changes in Social Security. Mark Smith, president of the Iowa Federation of Labor, spoke today (Wednesday) at a statehouse news conference timed to coincide with similar events in 25 other states.”There is no crisis in Social Security today, in spite of what President Bush would lead you to believe with all the hype,” Smith says. Smith says Social Security is not broken, and does not need to be fixed. Smith maintains the dire predictions of doom for the Social Security system are based on faulty economic predictions. Smith says you can’t get economists to agree what the economic growth rate will be next year, let alone in 2075. Lisa Davis Cook of the Iowa Citizens Action Network says the Bush plan would lead to benefit cuts. “If my Social Security right now is helping to pay for people who are receiving benefits right now, then how can we say that if I take part of my Social Security out (and invest in a private account) that it’s not going to affect the benefits of those who are receiving (Social Security) right now?” she asks. About 546-thousand Iowans receive a monthly Social Security check. Most — nearly four-hundred-thousand — are elderly, but 68-thousand disabled Iowans get a monthly Social Security check, as do 78-thousand survivors.