Jim Wood

It has been a hectic time since that historic day when Barack Obama became our nation's 44th president. We've seen passage of a much-needed stimulus package, adoption of the state budget and continued federal resources being forwarded to banks and the automobile industry.

We are now hearing calls to the president and Congress to focus on reform of entitlement programs - Social Security and Medicare.

The term entitlement has always seemed inappropriate to me. I've always viewed Social Security and Medicare as "earned benefits" rather than something that the government simply provides to seniors.

While certain changes in these earned benefit programs may be prudent, there is a need to put the true value and import of these programs into perspective.

Any changes should be considered in light of fiscal conditions, but also taking into account the lessons learned from ill-advised reform proposals of the past.

Social Security is one of the crown jewels of all American institutions. It is a crucial safety net for millions of Americans - young and old.

It provides a guaranteed income for life with a hedge against inflation. The scope of Social Security gives evidence of its importance:

• Social Security provides benefits to more than 50 million retirees, surviving spouses, children and persons with disabilities.
• Social Security provides 41 percent of the total income of American retirees.
• For 22 percent of American seniors, Social Security is their only source of income.
• Without Social Security, 40 percent of American seniors would fall below the poverty line.

These facts make it imperative that those who would "reform" Social Security do not leave millions of Americans without the resources to provide for basic needs.

We have heard calls for the privatization of a portion of Social Security, for the raising of the age for both early and full retirement and for changing the formula for indexing of cost-of-living increases.

Every one of these so-called reforms would create a huge hardship for our nation's seniors. More important, none of these are necessary to close the funding gap that we could face in the future.

Each year, the trustees of the Social Security system and the Congressional Budget Office report on the financial standing of the system.

The most recent report shows that the Social Security Trust Fund has been, not surprisingly, hurt by the current recession.

This report should not be viewed as a prediction of doom. Respected economist Henry J. Aaron of the Brookings Institute notes that the recent decrease will account for only a few hundredths of 1 percent in the 75-year projection of the Trust Fund assets.

There is one bright spot when we look at these assets. We are far better off today than we would have been had we heeded the calls of those who wanted to privatize Social Security by investing up to half of the contributions in the stock market.

The assets of millions of Americans were decimated as the market plunged. We are fortunate that the Social Security Trust Fund was not part of this outpouring of wealth.

The real focus of this report should be on the critical need to continue efforts to turn the American economy around. As jobs are created, contributions to Social Security will increase.

As employment opportunities increase, seniors who might otherwise opt for retirement may instead choose to stay in the active work force, thus relieving some stress on the trust fund.

The United States Senate has rejected calls to form a task force which would be charged with overhauling Social Security.

The Senate has opted instead to monitor the assets of the fund, leaving open the option of making changes which will not disrupt the lives of some of our most vulnerable citizens.

Such changes could include raising the income cap on contributions and requiring higher income Americans to make an even greater contribution.

This is not the time to bury our heads in the sand and ignore issues which could face us at some point in the future.

But neither is it a time to take precipitous actions which will burden millions of seniors for years to come.

In his inaugural address President Obama said, ". . . the question we ask is not whether government is too big or too small, but whether it works, whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, health care they can afford and a retirement that is dignified."

That is what Social Security has always been about - providing dignity in retirement for our seniors. In these perilous times, we cannot pull back from that commitment.

James G. Wood, former NYSUT executive director, is president of the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans.