Kucinich solution to creating new jobs: Early Retirement
Jeanwah
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http://www.wkyc.com/news/politics_govt/ ... &catid=130
Kucinich proposal: Open jobs by helping older workers retire
CLEVELAND -- Congressman Dennis Kucinich is proposing a plan he claims could open up at least one million jobs fast.
He is borrowing a concept already used by the United Auto Workers union. He thinks it makes sense in this slow-recovering economy where jobs have been lost 24 months in a row.
He wants the federal government to help workers 60-62 years old who are already thinking about retirement to be able to afford it.
Kucinich claims 70 percent of 62-year-old workers already start taking reduced Social Security benefits when they are eligible.
He claims there are about 4.2 million workers in that age group and believes at least one million of them would retire if they could.
He proposes having the government pay an equivalent amount of what the workers would get from Social Security at age 62.
It would not come from the Social Security fund. And he suggests giving them health care under the government's COBRA program.
He claims the total cost of this would be about $15 billion.
He argues that's not much compared to the $700 billion spent to bail out banks.
He claims the money is already available in existing stimulus and recovery programs.
Companies would not be forced to replace workers. But Kucinich believes most companies would make new hires because they are operating at bare-bones levels.
"This is something we could do now. This gives companies a chance to get new blood in, in a way that does not make them get more money to do it," Kucinich said.
At the city/county Employment Connection Center on Broopark Road, many frustrated jobless workers like the idea.
"Anything that could start a process of job creation, I'm all for it," said unemployed roofer David Acord.
Former bank worker Janice Roth said, "I'm all for it because there's so many people out of work."
Bonnie Dick is a former winner of the Ohio Senior Worker of the year award. She teaches at the center. She fears the Kucinich plan might push older workers with much more to give to the door.
"I myself would be frustrated if I didn't have this opportunity. We older workers do have value," she said.
Kucinich said he wanted to roll out the plan in his home district.
He will introduce legislation in the U.S. House and is sending fellow members letters, explaining the concept to them and seeking their support.
Kucinich proposal: Open jobs by helping older workers retire
CLEVELAND -- Congressman Dennis Kucinich is proposing a plan he claims could open up at least one million jobs fast.
He is borrowing a concept already used by the United Auto Workers union. He thinks it makes sense in this slow-recovering economy where jobs have been lost 24 months in a row.
He wants the federal government to help workers 60-62 years old who are already thinking about retirement to be able to afford it.
Kucinich claims 70 percent of 62-year-old workers already start taking reduced Social Security benefits when they are eligible.
He claims there are about 4.2 million workers in that age group and believes at least one million of them would retire if they could.
He proposes having the government pay an equivalent amount of what the workers would get from Social Security at age 62.
It would not come from the Social Security fund. And he suggests giving them health care under the government's COBRA program.
He claims the total cost of this would be about $15 billion.
He argues that's not much compared to the $700 billion spent to bail out banks.
He claims the money is already available in existing stimulus and recovery programs.
Companies would not be forced to replace workers. But Kucinich believes most companies would make new hires because they are operating at bare-bones levels.
"This is something we could do now. This gives companies a chance to get new blood in, in a way that does not make them get more money to do it," Kucinich said.
At the city/county Employment Connection Center on Broopark Road, many frustrated jobless workers like the idea.
"Anything that could start a process of job creation, I'm all for it," said unemployed roofer David Acord.
Former bank worker Janice Roth said, "I'm all for it because there's so many people out of work."
Bonnie Dick is a former winner of the Ohio Senior Worker of the year award. She teaches at the center. She fears the Kucinich plan might push older workers with much more to give to the door.
"I myself would be frustrated if I didn't have this opportunity. We older workers do have value," she said.
Kucinich said he wanted to roll out the plan in his home district.
He will introduce legislation in the U.S. House and is sending fellow members letters, explaining the concept to them and seeking their support.
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But, for how long would he pay the early retirees the equivalent of what they would receive at 62? I think that's the crux of the matter. Many people close to retirement watched their personal retirement funds disappear when the stock market took a nose dive. There's not enough time available to them to recoup what they lost and to live at the level they previously had planned, and saved, for.
If he plans on matching the early pay only until they reach the age where they can take full retirement benefits from social security, matching the early retirees' draws won't make much difference for anyone who lost their personal retirement fund/401k. Many older folks, who comprise the huge group called Baby Boomers, are having to work longer because they lost their personal retirement funds, not because they don't want to retire.
Maybe I'm missing something, but it doesn't sound like it would have any real impact.
Mohandas K. Gandhi
~I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance than I should have been by any epaulette I could have worn.~
Henry David Thoreau