Candidates discuss options

• By SARAH CHACKO
• Capitol news bureau
• Published: Aug 11, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05am

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As Republican Party congressional candidates kept the heat on Democrats over energy policies, some residents tried to bring attention to another growing concern — Social Security.

Last week during the Jim Engster show on local WRKF radio, a discussion with state Sen. Bill Cassidy, a candidate for Louisiana’s 6th U.S. Congressional District, turned to Social Security.

Callers raised questions about the financially unstable status of the system and the mostly  Republican position on privatization.

“It’s a complex issue and not something you can address in 30 seconds,” said Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge.

Cassidy and state Rep. Michael Jackson are challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Don Cazayoux in a Nov. 4 general election for the district seat.

All three candidates said they believe Social Security is an important issue, as the system that so many Americans rely on struggles for firm footing.

Currently, a 6.2 percent Social Security tax, matched by employers, is levied against a worker’s first $97,500 in income. Louisiana is one of  seven states where state employees pay into state retirement systems instead of Social Security.

By recent estimates, the Social Security trust funds will not have enough coming in through payroll taxes to pay out benefits, starting in 2017. The funds are expected to run dry by 2041 without changes.

Soon after his re-election in 2004, President Bush called for the creation of personal investment accounts, funded with a portion of workers’ payroll taxes, saying the result would be a more financially solvent program. But Democrats objected to what they called privatization of the system and deemed it a risk not worth taking.

Cazayoux, D-New Roads, said he has no concrete solution to the impending problem but feels the private account concept  is not the way to go.

“Social Security right now is already in a compromised state,” Cazayoux said. “If we take money out to put it in another system, it’s going to be more unstable.”

Jackson, No Party-Baton Rouge, agreed, saying private accounts would be a costly undertaking that would only add to the nation’s debt.

“We just shouldn’t gamble away American retirement benefits on the stock market,” Jackson said.