Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District
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Woodinville Senior Visits Washington D.C.; Urges No Privatization of Social Security
2 February 2005
U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee invited Mrs. Phyllis Fiege, a senior citizen from Woodinville who is a Social Security recipient, to Washington D.C. to attend the President's State of the Union Address and to participate in a discussion about the President's plans for Social Security.
Mrs. Fiege is an eighty year-old retired special education teacher and program manager for the Edmonds School District who currently depends on Social Security as an important part of her retirement security. She is a widow, and has two children and three grandchildren. Ms. Fiege has attended several of Inslee's town meetings and has spoken with the Congressmen and his office about her concerns regarding the President's plans to privatize Social Security. Due to her past advocacy for protecting Social Security, Inslee wanted her to participate in a roundtable with other Members of Congress as they discussed alternatives to privatizing Social Security.
"Social Security is meant to be a program that is always there and that we can count on to be secure," Mrs. Fiege told Inslee. "Social Security is based on the idea that we are all in this together, and that we care enough about each other to provide a safety net for everyone. President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security puts your retirement at risk and is a gamble. I hope that young people in their twenties and thirties pay attention to this debate because they are the ones with the most to lose if Social Security is privatized."
Fiege continued, "The facts from the Social Security Commission show that the funds are there to provide full benefits to at least 2042. After that, eighty percent of benefits can be paid to retirees. We just have to make minor changes to Social Security - it is not the disaster that President Bush claims it is."
"When the President gives his speech tonight, I hope that he considers people like Phyllis, who will be listening from the galleries or at home with genuine concerns about his plan to privatize Social Security," said Inslee. "This is the first time ever that a president has made a radical proposal to take away from Social Security and the program's guarantees to the American people."
During their meeting, Ms. Fiege and Inslee discussed, among other items: that young people should follow the President's proposal more closely; that putting Social Security funds in the stock market could hurt benefits because of commission charges; that our country will have enough funds to fully pay for Social Security benefits for at least forty or fifty years; and that in other places where Social Security-like programs has been privatized, such as Great Britain, the proposal has had poor results.
Inslee listens to Mrs. Fiege tell him her concerns about potential changes to social security in his Washington D.C. office.
Mrs. Fiege (bottom right-hand corner) participates in a roundtable about potential changes to social security with other Members of Congress and their constituents. Members of Congress in the photo include U.S. Reps. Levin (MI), Schakowsky (IL), Holt (NJ) and Van Hollen (MD).