Text 783, 705 rader
Skriven 2005-04-15 23:33:02 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0504155) for Fri, 2005 Apr 15
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President Participates in Social Security Roundtable in Ohio
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 15, 2005

President Participates in Social Security Roundtable in Ohio
Lakeland Community College
Kirtland, Ohio


˙˙˙˙˙In Focus: Social Security

1:03 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. Please be seated. I appreciate you
coming, Steve, thanks. Glad to give you a ride home on Air Force One.
(Laughter.) I really do like working with Steve. He's a thoughtful fellow
who cares about issues, and this is -- what we're going to talk about is an
important issue, which is Social Security.

Before I do, I want to thank the community college for hosting us. I'm a
big believer in community colleges. Community colleges have got the
capacity to change curriculum to meet the needs of a local work force, for
example. And one of the real challenges of the 21st century is to make sure
people have got the skills necessary to fill the jobs of the 21st century.
And a fabulous place to find those skills is our community colleges.

So, thanks for what you do; thanks for being a host; thanks for letting us
come and have a -- what I think you'll find to be a really interesting
educational experience about a vital issue confronting the country.

I want to thank Lt. Governor Bruce Johnson for joining us. I appreciate
State Treasurer Jennette Bradley for joining us today. I want to thank the
Mayor, Ed Podojil, who is here. I appreciate you, Mr. Mayor. And I want to
thank Dave Anderson. The last time I saw Dave, I said to Dave, I said,
"Dave, fill the potholes." (Laughter.) That's just a piece of advice.
(Laughter.) And so I saw him in line coming in. He said, "I'm just here to
report for duty Mr. President. I did fill the potholes." (Laughter.) You'd
get reelected if you want to run again. (Laughter.)

Anyway, I want to thank Anita Isom, who's with us. Anita is a young lady I
met when we landed there at the airport in Cleveland. She is a volunteer
and she has helped, and been awarded because of her reading-related
activities that benefit others. The reason I like to mention a soul like
Anita is that, no matter what your age, no matter where you live, you can
help this country by becoming a volunteer, by helping somebody who hurts,
by teaching somebody to read, or feed somebody who's hungry, or put your
arm around somebody who needs love.

I like to remind people that the greatest strength of this country is the
heart and souls of our fellow citizens, and the great compassion of our
people. And so if you're interested in serving America, do so by becoming a
volunteer in the community in which you live, and help change this country
one heart and one soul at a time.

So, Anita, thanks for coming. Thanks for meeting me at the airport.

Let me talk about Social Security. I could be talking about a lot of things
-- peace and freedom. The world is changing right now because societies are
becoming more free. And as societies become more free, more democratic, the
world will become more peaceful.

Today I went to a little restaurant, and the owner happens to be Lebanese
American. And he said, thank you, Mr. President, for staying focused on a
country like Lebanon and insisting that Lebanon be allowed to have free
elections. And I assured him, like I'll assure you, that when America
speaks, we mean what we say; when we say free elections to the Syrians, we
mean free elections. Get out of Lebanon and let this good country have a
free election, as scheduled. When I say, get out of Lebanon, I mean out of
Lebanon with all your troops and all your security services and all the
people trying to influence that government. It is in the world's interest
that Lebanon be allowed to have free elections, because a free society will
help spread the peace. (Applause.)

We're dealing with a lot of issues, and in Washington, D.C. I've submitted
a tough budget and expect the Congress to be wise about how you spend your
money. I also know that Congress needs to stop debating and get an energy
bill to my desk -- now, during this session. (Applause.)

Congress also needs to take serious this issue about Social Security.
People say, well, why did you bring it up? I said, I brought it up because
I see a serious problem that needs to be fixed now before it's too late. I
also brought it up because the job of a President is to confront problems,
and not pass them on. The easy route in politics is to say, well, we got us
a problem, we'll just let the next person handle it. The easy route for a
member of the United States Senate is to say, there is a problem, but it
perhaps can wait. We'll just let another United States Senate fix it, or
send it to the House. That's not the way I think. I think I got elected
because people expect me, when I see a problem, to bring it to the fore and
to work with people to get it solved.

And here's the problem in Social Security. There's a lot of people like me
getting ready to retire. (Laughter.) As a matter of fact, I'm retiring in
four years -- at least I hit retirement age in four years -- which is
convenient -- (laughter) -- in my case. I turn 62 in 2008. And I'm not the
only one turning 62 in 2008. As a matter of fact, there's a lot of us.
We're called the baby boomer generation. And not only is my generation
fixing to retire, we are living longer than previous generations. And not
only are we living longer than previous generations, we have been promised
greater benefits than the previous generation. In other words, people
running for office say, put me in office and I'll increase your Social
Security benefits for you. And guess what -- they did.

And so a lot of us are getting ready to retire. And the problem comes
because there's not a lot of people paying into the system. See, in 1950,
there were 16 workers for every beneficiary. So you can imagine the load
was somewhat lighter than today, when there's now 3.3 workers for every
beneficiary. And soon there's going to be two workers for every
beneficiary. You've got fewer workers paying into a system that is going to
require more and more out-flow, because a lot of us are retiring, living
longer, and been promised greater benefits. And the math just doesn't work.

It's a pay-as-you-go system, by the way. That means, when the money goes
in, it comes right out. It's not a trust. I mean, some people in America I
suspect think that the federal government all these years has been
collecting your payroll taxes and we're holding it for you. And then when
you get ready to retire, we give it back to you. That's not the way it
works. The way it works is, is that we collect your payroll taxes and we
pay the current retirees their benefits, and then with leftover money we
spend it on other things. That's the way the system works. It's
pay-as-you-go.

And in 2017, the pay-as-you-go system is going to go negative. In other
words, more money goes out than comes in through payroll taxes. And every
year thereafter, if we don't do something, it gets worse and worse and
worse and worse. To give you an example of how bad it gets, in 2027, the
federal government is going to have to come up with $200 billion more a
year just to make good on the payments. And it gets worse the next year,
and the next year, and the next year.

I also want to assure those of you who are on Social Security, you will get
your check. See, nothing changes for somebody born prior to 1950. And
that's very important for people in Ohio to hear, because I fully
understand a lot of people count on that Social Security check. That Social
Security check means a lot to a lot of people in America, and they're
counting on it. That's why, for example, in some political campaigns people
try to say to seniors, you know, if so-and-so gets into office, he's going
to take your check away from you. That's the old scare tactics. Sometimes
during this debate it seems like people are resorting to those scare
tactics. They're telling seniors, really what they're talking about is
taking your check away. Let me just tell you, point-blank: If you're
receiving a Social Security check in Ohio, this government of ours will
continue to honor you, honor that commitment.

This issue isn't about you. This issue is about your grandchildren. The
issue confronting the Social Security system is an issue for young workers,
young people coming up. One time I was having a discussion and the person
said, I saw a survey -- I said, oh, yeah, what did it say? It said young
workers like me are more likely to see -- think we're more likely to see a
UFO than get a Social Security check. (Laughter.) That may be pretty close
to accurate.

I'll tell you this: If this federal government doesn't act, your bill, your
payroll taxed are going to have to go up a lot in order to pay the promises
made to me. Or the government is going to have to slash the benefits. Or
the government is going to have to make dramatic cuts in other programs.
And so I see a problem. I think the math is clear. And so now is the time
to get something done.

And so I stood up in front of the United States at my State of the Union
address and said to the Congress, here's the problem. And I'm going to put
some ideas on the table, ideas that I didn't necessarily think of; ideas
that President Clinton had thought of, or Senator Moynihan, a great member
of the United States Senate from New York, who, unfortunately, has passed
away -- or former congressman Tim Penny -- good ideas about different ways
to permanently fix the problem. And that's what Congress must do; it must
permanently fix the problem.

In 1983, one of my predecessors, President Ronald Reagan, got together with
Speaker O'Neill from Massachusetts, and they said, we got a problem, let's
fix it. See, the math wasn't working then either. It was called a 75-year
fix. They signed a bill -- I love the spirit, by the way, of Republicans
and Democrats setting aside their political parties and focusing on getting
something done for the American people. And the President did that, the
Speaker did that for the 75-year fix. The only problem is, 22 years later
we're still talking about it. And so now is the time to bring people
together from both parties to have a permanent fix. And all ideas are on
the table. And I'm looking forward to discussing any good idea with a
Democrat or a Republican.

I imagine there's some people fearful in Washington, D.C. about maybe
laying out an interesting idea and that one of the political parties will
get all over them for laying it out. If I had anything to do with it, it
would be political amnesty for people bringing good ideas forward. Now is
not the time to play political "gotcha" with a member of any political
party, for stepping up and bringing forth ideas to do what they think is
right to help solve this problem permanently for generations of Americans
to come.

Now, one of the ideas that I think is important for the Congress to
consider is to allow a younger worker to be able to set aside some of her,
or his own money in a personal savings account, as a part of a Social
Security solution. See, I think government ought to say, we'll give you an
opportunity, if you want to -- your choice. We're not saying, you must set
aside money. We're saying you ought to have the opportunity to, it ought to
be voluntary to set aside some money so that you can earn a better rate of
return on your money. People ought to be given a chance to invest in a
conservative mix of bonds and stocks.

In other words, it's part of a permanent solution in order to make sure the
younger worker gets a better deal. The younger worker ought to be allowed
to set aside some of the payroll taxes. And this is a concept, by the way,
that has been tried before. I haven't invented the idea. As a matter of
fact, the federal -- Congress before has said, we ought to allow people
working in the United States Congress, and congressman and United States
senators to do just what I described. The Federal Employee Thrift Savings
plan allows members of Congress and the United States Senate to take some
of their money and set it aside in a personal savings account. Why? Because
they know they'll get a better rate of return on their money than if the
federal government held it. And it seems fair to me that if setting aside
money in a personal savings account is good enough for a member of the
United States Congress, it's good enough for workers all across America.
(Applause.)

Okay, so I went to school with a guy who made all A's. It's probably
recognized by now I didn't do all that well in college at times.
(Laughter.) And I brought him with me. He's an expert. He's my National
Economic Advisor. But I want you to notice, you students out there, who's
the President and who's the advisor. (Laughter and applause.)

I've got a fabulous staff. People need to judge the President based upon
who he listens to. And as you know in foreign policy matters, I listen to
some really capable people -- Condi -- Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of
State; Secretary Rumsfeld. And on the domestic side, I've got great people
working with me. One of them is Al Hubbard, a business guy out of Indiana,
started businesses, ran businesses, entrepreneur. He's agreed the come and
serve as the National Economic Advisor to the President. He briefs me on a
regular basis. And one of the big issues that I've got him working on is
Social Security.

I want to thank for coming, Al. And if you got something to say, now is
your opportunity. (Laughter.) Please don't try to defend yourself because
the President always has the last word. (Laughter.)

MR. HUBBARD: Yes, sir, I've learned that very quickly. Thanks for giving me
this opportunity.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: You're the guy who authored the bill?

MR. SINES: I had the first bill in 1994.

THE PRESIDENT: Really.

MR. SINES: Introduced it.

THE PRESIDENT: If you got any spare time, you might want to come up to
Washington and work the issue with me. (Laughter.)

MR. SINES: Well, Mr. President -- I really like Lake County. (Laughter.)

* * * * *

MR. SINES: I have three daughters, and kind of in the same mode as you,
we're in a special club when you raise daughters.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Your hair is about as white as mine. (Laughter.)

MR. SINES: Yes, it is and it's getting whiter. And it's getting whiter.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: It must make you feel good to be able to sit here in front
of all these TV cameras and say, I saw a problem, I worked with people from
both sides of the aisle to fix it, and it's working. That's the spirit the
people in the United States Congress must hear. It's not time to play
politics, it's time to fix the problem. It's time to set aside all this
business about, my party may look good, or so-and-so may look good, and
so-and-so may look bad -- we've really got an opportunity, a need to fix
it.

And secondly, I am -- I just want you to know that like you went through,
there were some moments as to whether or not you thought the thing would
pass. Yes, well, you know something -- I'm going to be relentless on the
subject because I believe the American people, once they understand there's
a problem, once they understand the math, and once seniors understand that
nothing is going to change, the next question to members who have been
elected is why aren't you doing something about it? See, if there's a
problem, you saw the problem, and people begin to recognize the nature of
the problem and the size of the problem and the cost of inactivity, and
senior citizens understand that the propaganda they may have heard about
somebody taking away their check simply isn't true, the next logical
extension of the debate and the discussion is, say, if we got a problem,
and I'm going to get my check, what are you going to do about my grandkids?
It's a generational issue.

And we're just starting. So don't worry about me, Ray. I'm feeling pretty
good about -- feeling pretty good about where we stand. The American people
are wise. They just need to know the facts.

Part of the facts is understanding we have a problem, and part of the facts
is what you're going to do about it. And today, this is an interesting
opportunity for people to see a system that is -- I bet most people in
America don't understand what happens here in Ohio when it comes to the
retirement system. And so, thank you, for being an innovator, and thank you
for being a leader.

Now, who's next, Hubs.

MR. HUBBARD: Mr. Scott Johnson, who is very involved with the Ohio Public
Employees Retirement System. And he can describe this new innovation that
Ray provided through the legislature.

THE PRESIDENT: Good, tell us what you do.

MR. JOHNSON: Thank you, Mr. President. I'm Scott Johnson, I'm Governor
Taft's director of administrative services. That's a central services
organization similar to your General Services Administration, only added
human resources and personnel.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: By the way, I went to West Virginia the other day and saw
the asset base of the so-called Social Security trust: You know what, it
was about four or five file cabinets full of paper. (Laughter.) It was the
IOU left behind from one hand of government to the other hand of
government.

MR. JOHNSON: We've been operating since 1935, but of course, society has
changed a bit over that period of time.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: Sorry to interrupt you. Presidents do that sometimes.
(Laughter.) Portability -- so if somebody is listening and they're not
exactly sure what that means and why that would be important to them --

MR. JOHNSON: University professors typically move around.

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

MR. JOHNSON: And in mid-career may move from one university to another. And
so they've already gotten some sort of retirement system underway and would
like to move that from where they are, to where they're going.

THE PRESIDENT: If they change jobs they could take their retirement account
with them.

MR. JOHNSON: Exactly.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. That's important for people to know. That's a concept
that's an important part of any good plan, would be to recognize the needs
of the person that is receiving a part of their retirement. They can move.

Go ahead.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: I think that's a reasonable concept, don't you, folks?
Government says to the people you have a choice to make, you know?
(Applause.)

MR. JOHNSON: So what you, therefore, have with that combined program is a
system where the portion that the employer -- the state, or the county, or
the city -- contributes is administered by the professionals at the system.
And the amount that the employee himself or herself contributes could be
managed by that employee.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I guess, you can't take the money and put it in the
lottery?

MR. JOHNSON: Well, even though we run a lottery --

THE PRESIDENT: Or on the trotting jockey -- trotters or whatever it is next
door here.

MR. JOHNSON: No, sir, you can't do that.

THE PRESIDENT: The point is that there is a relatively conservative, or
conservative mix of what's available for people to invest in. Is that an
accurate assessment of the choices people have to make?

MR. JOHNSON: The choices are all responsible ones, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: I don't know about the lottery being irresponsible --
(Laughter.)

MR. JOHNSON: But there is a great deal of variety and individual ability to
be aggressive or not so aggressive as one chooses.

THE PRESIDENT: That's right. See, it's an interesting concept that the
people of Ohio have put in place. And the government basically said, hey,
why don't we trust people. After all it's their own money. Why don't we
give them a chance to -- (applause.) But you just can't go -- there is a
certain set of parameters, I presume, Scott, that -- just like there is for
the federal employees, by the way. In other words, here's some options for
you.

Some people think about whether or not people ought to be allowed to
invest. They call it risky. I don't think it's risky to let people earn a
better rate of return on their money, but obviously there's some
parameters, there's some go-bys. And as you said I think there's eight
different options -- nine different options.

MR. JOHNSON: Nine, yes.

THE PRESIDENT: In other words, the government says -- the government does
play a role and says here's nine different opportunities for you to have a
mix of stocks and bonds, or it can go totally bonds, totally stocks, or is
it generally a mixture? How does it --

MR. JOHNSON: Mr. President, there are layers of choices you can make. You
could if you wish choose one of three pre-mixed options.

THE PRESIDENT: Got it.

MR. JOHNSON: One would be conservative, one less conservative, and one,
frankly, aggressive. Or you could if you wish develop your own asset
mixture. You could have some bonds. You could have some equities. You could
have TIPS. Conceivably, you could invest it all in bonds.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

MR. JOHNSON: You could do that if you wish to do so.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, you got any average rate of return on these programs?
Or is that impossible to do?

MR. JOHNSON: It's not impossible to do, but it's beyond my level of
expertise. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: Okay. Well, I was talking with Senator McCain who told me
that he thought his rate of return I think was over 7 percent, in his
employee retirement Thrift Savings Plan, over time. In other words, a
conservative mix of stocks and bonds that the government -- federal
government allows federal employees to make, a rate of return over 7
percent. You see, if you're keeping you money in the Social Security
system, it's about 1.8 percent. And the difference for a younger worker
between 7 percent and 1.8 percent over time is a lot of money because
interest compounds. It grows. Money grows over time.

And I think that's one of the reasons why the employees said if it's good
enough for professors, why don't you let me have a taste of this, too? Why
don't you give me a chance to watch my money grow and let me control it,
and let me own it.

So, I appreciate you bringing that forward, Scott, thank you.

MR. JOHNSON: Yes, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: Very good job. (Applause.)

Betty Young, welcome. What do you do, Betty?

MS. YOUNG: Thank you, Mr. President, and it's an honor and a pleasure to be
here. I'm the executive director of Human Resource Services for the
University of Cincinnati.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: First, you notice that Betty talked about 401(k)s and IRAs.
I don't remember 401(k)s when I was growing up. In other words, there is a
new culture in America when it comes to people managing their own assets --
401(k)s encourage management of your own assets -- IRAs. In other words,
more and more people in America are now becoming used to controlling their
-- managing their own money.

I presume you find a certain reticence initially, when -- that says I'm not
so sure I can do this.

MS. YOUNG: But you don't have to be a Wall Street wiz.

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

MS. YOUNG: For example, the university requires that the different
providers that offer these programs, that they provide educational
materials.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: That's good. You know interesting thing that Betty talked
about was encouraging people to open up a quarterly statement, or if you so
choose, you can look at your wealth on a daily basis. I think that's an
interesting concept. It seems like to me we'd like all of America doing
that, watching their assets grow. Not just Wall Street wizzes, but
everybody. I mean, if more people owned something -- (applause.) I like the
idea of having a program in Ohio where it encourages ownership. Not just
one type of person, but all people have got access to ownership.

It seems like to me a more hopeful America is going to be one in which
people say, I'm watching my assets grow and I'm more -- let me just say,
politicians will be -- their actions will be a lot more scrutinized when
somebody is watching whether or not the decisions made in Washington is
affecting their work, on a daily or quarterly basis. In other words, the
more people paying attention to their assets, the more people will be
paying attention to what happens in Washington, D.C., or in Columbus, Ohio.

So thanks for bringing that to my mind. Let me ask you this: Obviously,
there's a certain role for the state, and that is the state has chosen the
providers -- is that right -- screened and chosen the providers?

MS. YOUNG: Yes. The Ohio Department of Insurance screens and chooses the
providers that participate in the Ohio Alternative Retirement Program.

THE PRESIDENT: So the charge that somehow a fly-by-night is going to get a
hold of somebody's retirement account and fritter it away is frivolous.

MS. YOUNG: Correct, because if there's ever a problem, for example, with
one of the providers, then as the person that manages the program at the
University of Cincinnati, then I can contact the Department of Insurance,
or go directly to that company about any issues that we may have.

THE PRESIDENT: One of the other things that Betty talked about was mixing
risk. And people need to understand that you can constantly change the risk
of your asset base -- that, for example, if you're 20 years old, you can
take a little more risk. And when it comes time for fixing to retire, you
switch from, perhaps, stocks -- mix up stocks and bonds to a greater mix of
bonds to stocks, so that you're able to decide for yourself what kind of
asset base you have, relative to where you are in the retirement -- how
close you are to retirement age. And I presume people are doing that,
constantly switching in and out all the time to manage their assets.

* * * * *

MS. YOUNG: I have funds in a portion that is guaranteed 6 percent -- that
won't change during the life of the account.

THE PRESIDENT: About 6 percent. It's a lot better than 1.8 percent in the
Social Security system. And the difference between the 6 percent and the
1.8 percent over Betty's lifetime is a significant amount of money. And
that's important for people to understand. What we're trying to do is to
learn lessons from a state like Ohio, apply it at the federal level, so
workers get a better deal. And part of a better deal is a better rate of
return. And part of a better deal, by the way, is saying, I own it.

You listen to Betty's language -- she's talking about her assets. She's not
relying upon the government, she says, these are my assets and I own these
assets. And that's important. The more people own an asset, and the more
people are able to say, I'm going to pass it on to my son or daughter,
whoever I choose, the better off America is. You see, being able to spread
wealth. (Applause.)

Thank you, Betty. Good job.

Let me say one thing about the Social Security system before we get to
Rick. Do you realize the system today is structured so that if you die
early and you leave behind a spouse -- say, you started working and
contributing to the system at age 21, and you died at 51, 30 years of work,
and you leave behind a spouse, and the spouse works, like many families in
America, there's two spouses working -- that the -- and the spouse is the
same age as the husband or wife, there are no death benefits if you're
younger than 62 years old. And secondly, when the surviving spouse retires,
he or she will get to choose between the survivor benefits or the
contributions that he or she has made -- is owed by the government,
whichever is greater, but not both.

Now, think about that. That's a system in which the person who's worked for
30 years, put in the money and it's just gone. I don't think that makes
sense for a good retirement system. The system here in Ohio essentially
says that, if the principle were applied to the federal government, you
have an asset. It grows. You watch it, you manage it, and if you pass away
you can leave it to your spouse to help that person transition, then help
that person live life. It's an asset. This asset doesn't exist in a file
cabinet in West Virginia, it's yours. It's an asset that you call your own,
that can help you.

Now, when people retire here, I presume you can't spend all your asset base
at once.

MS. YOUNG: You could take a withdrawal on a lump-sum basis, but normally,
again, your AARP provider is going to work with you to design how you
should now start drawing down on your money to ensure a level of income
throughout your remaining lifetime.

THE PRESIDENT: That's what the -- that's the vision at the federal level
for a personal account, is that there will be a draw-down to help
complement the check, however big it's going to be from the federal
government. All I'm telling you is we made promises to younger workers we
can't keep. In other words, we've said we can pay you; we can't. Do you
realize that in order to make sure that the payments that we promised to
retirees are kept, that a younger worker may have to pay upwards of an
18-percent payroll tax. Try that on if you're a small business owner. Try
that on if you're struggling to get ahead. We need to fix it now, and one
way to -- a part of making sure the retirement system works well is to
listen to the example right here in the state of Ohio.

Rick, ready to roll?

MR. STENGER: I certainly am.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay. What do you do?

MR. STENGER: I'm currently one of the directors of the Lake Metropark
System. We want to welcome you back to Lake County. The last time you were
here --

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I know -- thank you.

MR. STENGER: You and 20,000 friends came and had a good day. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: I hope LaTourette stayed behind to clean up. (Laughter.)

MR. STENGER: Steve got busy. He was there, but he was watching us.
(Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: Okay. He was an executive. (Laughter.)

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: How did your money do in the Social Security system?

MR. STENGER: Yes, 1.8, I think, right?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. You take a 6-percent differential, or 5.2 percent
differential over a number of years, and you're going to see some serious
money. And it ought to grow. The government ought to give opportunities to
our fellow citizens to have their money grow in a conservative mix of
stocks and bonds just like they did. It seems to make sense to me.
(Applause.)

MR. STENGER: Mr. President, one of the things that I found very helpful and
interesting is the system does a good job of educating, because you come in
and you're not sure what to do, and many people are afraid of change --
they had a battery of questions to answer, I think 20-some questions, and
it sort of guided you as to where you fit on the investment scale. If you
answered the questions, it would give you a score, and the score would sort
of catagorized you into you're okay to aggressively do it, conservatively
do it, moderately do it. So people who are afraid of it don't know -- you
answer this batter of questions and it gives you a pretty neat answer.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. See, that's an interesting point. I think some people
are fearful of the obligation, I guess is what it -- of investing their own
money. They're not exactly sure what the words mean. It's kind of an
interesting assumption here in America, the investor class is only a
certain type of person. I don't buy into that. I think all people are
capable of learning what investment means. People from all walks of life,
all neighborhoods have got the capacity to manage their own money. And you
say the system helps people learn the words and learn what all this means.
I mean, it's kind of fancy -- rate of return, bonds and stocks.

MR. STENGER: And the nice thing about it, too, as Betty mentioned earlier,
you can change. If you realize, well, I went real aggressive and your
lifestyle changes for whatever reason and you want to change, you can get
on-line. You can do it daily, if you so desire. You can take your quarterly
statement, analyze it, make changes appropriately if you so desire. It's
not like you're stuck with the choice you made.

THE PRESIDENT: How do you make sure like these firms don't gouge you when
it comes to fee? They've got a captive audience, they've got you pretty
well roped in once you make the decision. How does Ohio make sure that
these fees aren't going up, that they're reasonable?

MR. STENGER: Scott would know more than I do, but if I read right, the fees
are defined, depending on the plan you chose. I think the plan I chose
they're about .24, if I'm not mistaken.

THE PRESIDENT: -- .24, sounds reasonable.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate that. Listen, thanks for sharing this with us.

I got on the airplane, I started paying attention to what I was going to
hear today, and I was amazed at the willingness of the great state of Ohio
to think differently on behalf of the people who live here. And it struck
me about how relevant this conversation was going to be, for others to
listen to what is possible for Social Security.

Now, look, we need to come together in Washington and we need to work on a
permanent fix, all options are on the table. But part of that solution, in
order to make it a better deal for younger workers, is for people of both
parties to trust people with their own money, to devise a system that would
work similar to the state of Ohio, that would say, we're going to let you
earn a better rate of return for your money, that would enable a mom or a
dad to pass on their assets to whomever they chose, that would encourage
portability, but that makes sense. It makes sense. The more somebody owns
something in America, the more they're going to have a vital stake in the
future of this country.

The state of Ohio has incorporated a lot of really important principles in
this bill, Ray, and I want to thank you for that. One of the key principles
is government has got to trust people. The more government trust people,
trust people with their own money, the more content, the more prosperous
our society will be.

And so I want to thank you all for sharing with us. I hope you found it as
educational as I have. I look forward -- (applause.) I look forward to
continuing to take this message to the people of the United States of
America. I have great faith in the wisdom of the people of this country,
and I fully understand that when the people of this country understand the
depth of the problem that a young generation of Americans is going to face,
and when senior citizens understand that they're going to get their check,
the question is going to start to be to members of Congress of both
political parties, how come you're not fixing it. Because America is going
to realize that every year we wait it's going to cost the young generation
of Americans $600 billion to make this right.

And here's a fascinating idea, started right here in the great state of
Ohio, sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats, that's working. And
Congress needs to pay attention to things that work.

Thank you all for coming, and God bless. (Applause.)

END 1:55 P.M. EDT
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