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Show THE VOICE OF BUSINESS I. Talking sfraig.it on Social Securil By Richard L. l.eshrr. Pre... Chamber of Commerce of the I'nited States On November 10, 1975. Ambassador Daniel Patrick Movnihan took the floor of the United States General Assembly, and in one of his most eloquent statements there, condemned a I' N resolution which equated Zionism with racism. Today. he mourned. "we have drained the word racism of its meaning " Of course. Ambassador Movnihan is Senator Movnihan now. and on July 7. 1981, he accused Health and Human Services Secretary' Richard Schweiker of "conducting a campaign of political terrorism" by exaggerating the financial problems of the Social Security system. Though I usually refrain from singling out any one individual in-dividual for criticism in this column. I have to say that on that day. the Senator from New York drained the word terrorism of its meaning The challenges this nation faces-such as terrorism and Social Security -are too important and too complex to allow such violent twisting of our language by politicians to go unmentionod According to Sen Movnihan and other who oppose the administration's assessment of Social Security, there is nothing wrong with the program that higher taxes or more deficit spending can't fix. The Senator claims that Social Security is basically a "sound system". The legislative director of the I'nited Auto Workers pooh poolis all this talk about a problem as "only a temporary event." And an AKI.CIO spokesman has asserted that all we have to do is finance half of Medicare with general revenues! w hat general revenues?) and the retirement fund would be financially sound "well into the next century." Those comments made me curious about what those same folks were saying and doing about Social Security during its last major financial crisis just a few short years ago. In a report to its members in the fall of 1D7S tin' Executive Council of the AKl! CIO complained of a "tidal wave of groundless charges in tlx- media that the Social Security system is in danger of collapse." The council's conclusion The Social Security tax should not Ko higher. Yet a year later, tin- AKl.-CIO's candidate for President. J,,lv Carter, made Social $:.- '-' financial statement a cer.tr;--r; his attack on President Fori two years, union-backed rzr: '-Congress, '-Congress, including Sen Mr f-joined f-joined with President Car.er; the nation's largest pea::; : increase in history -a Sccj! i payroll hike which tlx : claimed "wxiuld ehrr.ir.it their-Security their-Security deficit for the rrru M this century." r. But w ith 19 years left in is rf r the Soc ial Security systerr. s w money at the rate of over V.'.' '" minute, and unless Ccr.gresi: fund will runout of money hi ; 19S2 J rule it docs not fully sr-s: the Administration's Sociil y proposals, the I'.S. Chi.- mends the Reagan AdmisiK: .... waking upthe nation to the far. - ; retirement program is teeitri edge of bankruptcy-j:: recognizing that to simpS dct- payroll tax on workers ar2 1" ; is a cure that has been tree i' . failed again and again j-' Security's outlays almost : t every five years, there is i: j to trim back wrtain benefit , Kor example, the currw! r e. indexing benefits should bf "X that beneficiaries do rot ' j greater cost-of-living itKns rv those who are still ort'.aS reduction of early reumr.ff-j K' r: is needed too. though it sKv:' ( place as abruptly as the Air - S; has proposed. ALso, the ' federal, state and local employees who are currer' t: from contributing to the s:(r be required to participate it p like the rest of us. This ia would bring in over $tiV K 'v ditional revenues to Svu! ; coffers by 1W7. Controversial reforms jurf will have to be made in o" 5 Social Security back on sxiN rs; footing I am convinced -J AiiH-ncais w ill support 1 1 program to adjust cert' formulas in order to cure thr growth in expenditures characterirod the system years. What they will not t politicians who pretend problem and berate those as Secretary Schweer j":: courageous enough to tell '( u |