Iowa woman participates in Social Security rally

An Iowa woman took part in a rally in Washington today (Tuesday) to try to get Congress to reject the President’s proposals on Social Security. Peggy Huppert went to nation’s capital with the group Americans United to Protect Social Security. She spoke via phone with Radio Iowa. She says Social Security “a very important safety net and lifeline for our family, and it is for millions of other families. And we want to tell Congress we think privatization is a really bad idea, because it’s going to put the fund at risk.” Huppert says people don’t need private investment as an option for their Social Security dollars. She says people already have the choice of investing in private retirement accounts and can invest however they choose. “But, Social Security is a social insurance program and its been reliable, and as a I said a safety net. And those of us who have invested in the stock market know that there are no guarantees in the stock market.” Huppert says she doesn’t like the way the plan would be implemented either. She says, “The cost of converting even part of Social Security to these funds would be astronomical and would explode the federal deficit, which I also don’t think is a very good idea.” Huppert is on the side of those who say we don’t have to make any big changes in the system. She says, “I think there are adjustments that need to be made, but we’re definitely not in a crisis. Pretty much everyone agrees, Social Security, even if we do nothing to it, will continue to pay out full benefits until 2041.” She says we have time to make some adjustments to the fund so it will continue to be viable. Huppert lives in Des Moines and is the only Iowa who’ll speak as part of the event.