Sound Bite Archive

1. "Today young workers who pay into Social Security might as well be saving their money in their mattresses—that's how low the return is … Personal savings accounts will transform Social Security from a government IOU into personal property and real assets."

Source: Remarks by President George W. Bush announcing the establishment of his bi-partisan Commission to Strengthen Social Security.

2. "Younger workers should have the opportunity to build a nest egg by saving part of their Social Security taxes in a personal retirement account. We should make the Social Security system a source of ownership for the American people."

Source: President George W. Bush State of the Union Address, January 20, 2004.

3. "Ownership, independence, access to wealth should not be the privilege of a few … They're the hope of every American, and we must make them the foundation of Social Security."

Source: Remarks by President George W. Bush announcing the establishment of his bi-partisan Commission to Strengthen Social Security.

4. "The key to a more prosperous African-American community lies in making it possible to build wealth that can be passed from generation to generation."

Source: Remarks by Gwendolyn King, former SSA commissioner, at a Cato Institute conference, Social Security and African Americans, March 19, 2002.

5. "Transforming the system to one based on individually owned, privately invested accounts would treat African-Americans far more fairly."

Source: Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell speaking at a Cato Institute conference on Social Security and African Americans, March 19, 2002.

6. "Compound interest is the eighth natural wonder of the world and the most powerful thing I have ever encountered."

Source: Albert Einstein

7. "If it is coming out of your paycheck, then it should go to your heirs when God calls you … It's ridiculous that you work for 35 years and it doesn't go to your children and grandchildren."

Source: Harry Alford, president of the National Black Chamber of Commerce speaking at a Cato Institute conference on Social Security and African Americans, March 19, 2002.

8. "The Social Security program, as it now stands, does nothing to promote individual saving or investment … Workers have little sense of proprietorship or a sense of what they are entitled to. Many have lost confidence in ever receiving anything back."

Source: President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security, Draft report, p. 3.

9. “If we are to maintain a sound system of support for tomorrow’s retirees, all generations of Americans must be encouraged to save and invest more.”

Source: President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security, Draft report, p. 3.

10. "In 1944 the British came up with the slogan of 'cradle to grave' protection. We propose something beyond: an estate! For doormen, as well as those living in the duplexes above.”

Source: Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “Building Wealth For Everyone,” New York Times, May 30, 2000

11. “Let the magic of compound interest work its magic.”

Source: Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “Building Wealth For Everyone,” New York Times, May 30, 2000.

12. “[Trust fund] balances are available to finance future benefit payments and other trust fund expenditures—but only in a bookkeeping sense. … They do not consist of real economic assets that can be drawn down in the future to fund benefits.”

Source: Former President Clinton’s Fiscal Year 2000 Budget, p. 337.

13. “There are basically only three options: We can raise taxes again, which no one wants to do because the payroll tax is regressive. … We can cut benefits … Or we can work together to try to find some way to increase the rate of return.”

Source: Remarks by former President Clinton, December 28, 1998.

14. “Personal accounts for younger generations could help most workers receive much higher total retirement benefits than are presently payable.”

Source: Testimony of James B. Lockhart, deputy commissioner of Social Security, at a January 26, 2004, Social Security Subcommittee hearing.

15. “More young Americans believe Elvis is alive than believe that they’ll ever see a Social Security check.”

Source: Sen. John McCain at a GOP debate in Manchester, NH, Jan 26, 2000.

16. “Promoting investment in America by every American worker would give lower-income Americans the ownership they deserve in the country we share, as well as grow their Social Security more rapidly.”

Source: Senator John McCain

17. “The world would be a better place if every worker were also an owner of capital.”

Source: Dr. José Piñera, “Liberating Workers: The World Pension Revolution,” (PDF) Cato's Letters #15, 2001.

18. “Liberating workers requires giving them access to individual ownership of capital in the context of a free market economy.”

Source: Dr. José Piñera, “Liberating Workers: The World Pension Revolution,” (PDF) Cato's Letters #15, 2001.

19. “There are no real transition costs to privatizing Social Security, merely the explicit recognition of current implicit debt.”

Source: Milton Friedman

20. "We want younger workers to own and manage their own retirement under Social Security, so that one day, every worker can have the security of a personal account. When people have solid assets to call their own, they gain independence and security and dignity, and more control over their future. I believe in private property so much, I want everyone in America to have some."

Source: George W. Bush