MEET SAM BROWNBACK:
Currently serving his second term, Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) has been a radio broadcaster, attorney, teacher, state official, and administrator.
In 1990-91, Brownback served as a White House Fellow in the first Bush Administration and was later elected Kansas Secretary of Agriculture. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 and, in 1996, he was elected to the U.S. Senate seat held by Bob Dole.
In the U.S. Senate, Brownback serves on the Appropriations, Judiciary, and Joint Economic Committees. He is the Ranking Member on the Joint Economic Committee, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee, as well as the subcommittee responsible for the Constitution. He also serves in the Helsinki Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, co-chairs the Senate Cancer Coalition and the Human Rights Caucus, chairs the Senate Values Action Team, and is a founding member of the Senate Fiscal Watch Team.
Senator Brownback and his wife Mary have five children.
With this installment of "Expert Q&A", For Our Grandchildren continues its series of occasional interviews featuring presidential candidates. Whoever is elected in November 2008, she or he will enter the White House a year after the first baby boomers become eligible for early Social Security retirement benefits. The next president, then, will be forced to address the fiscal crises brought on by the growth of Social Security, Medicare, and other such programs.
For Our Grandchildren's President, Leanne Abdnor, caught up with Senator Brownback recently to ask a few pointed questions.
Interview
Abdnor: What must the next president do to address and reduce the poisonous, partisan political climate in Washington?
Sam Brownback: I think we need more unity in our politics. In terms of foreign policy, I have often said we would do well to speak a bit more wisely and walk a bit more humbly. On the main political question of our day, the war in Iraq, I have put forward a bipartisan solution -- three states, one country -- with support from both sides of the aisle. We need to come together here... to win over there. At the same time, we need a bipartisan approach to the generational struggle we are in with militant Islam. There will always be disagreements about tactics, but we need a united front to sustain ourselves in this generational struggle. I also think we need it would help it we started to come together to meet American-sized goals, like ending deaths by cancer in ten years. Likewise, on energy policy, we could come together to meet a common goal of enhanced energy security. If we focused more on common threats and common goals, we could meet the challenges that lie ahead.
Abdnor: David Walker, head of the General Accountability Office, recently discussed his views on federal spending and noted the first baby boomers will become eligible for early Social Security retirement benefits in January 2008. Walker said, "They'll be eligible for Medicare just three years later and when those boomers start retiring en masse, then that will be a tsunami of spending that could swamp our ship of state if we don't get serious." Thoughts?
Sam Brownback: I agree that we must take action now to save Social Security and ensure our nation's long-term fiscal prosperity. No matter what anyone says to the contrary, the Social Security Trust Fund trustees are right: Social Security is either going to go bankrupt in the not-too-distant future; or we can take steps now to save it. To save Social Security, we can do one or a combination of the following: (1) Raise taxes on our kids; (2) Cut benefits for retirees; (3) Raise the retirement age; or (4) Issue loads of debt that our grandkids will have to pay back. I reject all 4 of these options, and that leaves us with only one other viable option: Allow retirees the choice and opportunity to invest their Social Security taxes in private accounts with real ownership, like the Thrift Savings Program (TSP) currently enjoyed by government employees.
Abdnor: Along with the Concord Coalition, Brookings, and the Heritage Foundation, the GAO's David Walker has been taking "The Fiscal Wake-Up Tour" across the country for the last two years. Walker observes, "You know the American people, I tell you, they are absolutely starved for two things: the truth, and leadership." You're one of the only candidates who has been willing to speak openly about the coming fiscal crisis. How are your audiences responding?
Sam Brownback: Audiences are responding well. Younger Americans know that they are getting a bad deal, and that the system in its present form will give them little benefit. We need honesty and real reform in Washington to defeat the growing cynicism that many Americans feel when they recognize that they are paying taxes into a system that will never benefit them. We need honesty in Washington, not empty political promises.
Abdnor: A recent McLaughlin and Associates survey found that over 96% of likely voters said it was important for the candidates to discuss and demonstrate a realistic plan for providing a secure retirement to current and future retirees. What is your plan? Given current partisan battles in Congress, is your plan realistic?
Sam Brownback: My plan is simple: No one should be forced to put their Social Security taxes into a private account. Everyone should be allowed to put their Social Security taxes into a private account. Even the most conservative private accounts would generate a better return than the current dismal return of Social Security, and private accounts would be a real, tangible asset-actually owned by the taxpayer-that could be passed on and inherited by one's heirs. At the same time, anyone who chooses to remain in the current Social Security structure would be allowed to do so without any cuts or changes in benefits.
