Social insecurity

Tax cut would threaten program's future

In a petty attempt to push ahead an election-year tax cut, the Republican party is hoping to steal precious dollars from the Social Security program in order to promote its party in the upcoming fall elections. The U.S. House of Representatives split on party lines last Saturday while debating an $80 billion tax cut. With a majority in the House, the Republicans were able to kill a critical amendment and approve the tax cut that will give a break to middle-income married couples and heirs of substantial estates. In aiding middle class families through this tax cut, however, legislators are quickly giving up on a program that has lasted for more than 60 years.

In past decades, the Republican Party touted exorbitant tax cuts and small government as the answer to the many political, social and economic problems that persist in America. Republicans claim that allowing business to have unfettered control of American and global markets will spur on progress, efficiency and a higher standard of living. The average American's wages, however, have, when taking interest rates into account, gone down since the 1970s, a clear indication that letting businesses keep more money thorough tax cuts has not improved the whole lot of society.

For the same reasons that supply-side economics only furthered the rich-get-richer trend during the 1980s, this tax cut will do more harm than good. The people who would benefit most from such a tax are those who receive large endowments through relatives' wills. The bill would increase the amount that can be exempted under the estate tax from $600,000 to $1 million. That's a potential of $400,000 that an affluent member of society would claim as tax-free. But who pays for this handout to the rich? The people do, and even worse, Social Security surplus funds are being diverted to bring about these handouts.

The Democrats tried their hardest on Saturday to defend one of the most important public programs of this century - Social Security. While the Republicans pushed for a portion of surplus dollars in Social Security trust funds to produce a tax cut, Democrats exposed how Republican leadership has desired since the mid-1980s to phase out or privatize Social Security. Because America is still waiting for the fate of the Social Security program to unfold, due to the future payments to retired baby boomers, legislators can not afford to reduce any possible surpluses in Social Security. By taking away part of the surplus, Republican members of Congress are abandoning a program that has been instrumental in providing for the elderly. While Republicans have claimed that Social Security still has enough strength to last for 33 more years, students and young adults who contribute to the program now will be unable to reap its benefits in the future.

The worst part of the entire tax cut is that the House pushed the bill through at a furious rate because Congress has been too focused on President Bill Clinton's behavior in the Oval Office. By profusely challenging the President to resign in past weeks, many Republican party legislators have ignored their duty to legislate on behalf of the American people. It is a terrible sign that in the upcoming election, instead of addressing issues such as financial problems in Asia, Russia, Brazil and Latin America, a volatile market on Wall Street, a loss of manufacturing jobs in the U.S., and declining real wages, the Republicans want to talk about election-year tax cuts.

10-01-98