Matsui Release in Defense of Social Security

[2] Today the House is considering making the Bush tax cuts permanent. This would exacerbate the deficits in the Republican budget, bringing the total raid on the Social Security trust fund to $5.5 trillion over the next 20 years. Assuming this money is taken from the Social Security trust fund, this would force a 30% cut in benefits for all Social Security recipients, even as 40 million new Social Security beneficiaries come into the system. The cost of the tax cuts over the next 75 years is more than enough to finance Social Security's long-term deficit twice over.

[3] "Today in the House, Republicans are attempting to push even more tax cuts for the wealthy through Congress. Every penny comes out of the Social Security trust funds," said Matsui. "The Republicans are bleeding Social Security to pay for these tax cuts. That means that working Americans who believe their hard-earned dollars are going into their retirement are in for a shock. Their payroll taxes are being funneled directly into tax cuts for the wealthy." Representative Matsui, the Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, and Senator Corzine, who's career in investment banking prior to the Senate, also discussed proposals to privatize Social Security. Such plans would cut benefits to current and future retirees, and would drain trillions from the trust fund to pay for private accounts. President Bush's Commission has proposed three privatization plans -- all of which cut benefits and require massive general revenue transfers -- but Republican leaders refuse to bring these up for debate before the election.

[4] "The threat to Social Security does not end with the budget and these reckless tax cuts. Privatization will make the problem even worse," said Matsui. "Republicans know that privatization means benefit cuts across the board. That's why they are trying to sweep their plans for Social Security privatization under the rug until after the election. But we are going to continue the drive to give the American people the debate they deserve about privatization."