ANDREW BIGGS FROM THE AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE TO TESTIFY AT PENSION COMMISSION THIS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH (State Office Bldg Room 5, Click Here for the Agenda and Schedule).
CONTACT: KIM CROCKETT [email protected] OR 612.388.2820 FOR INFORMATION.
Keith Brainard, research director of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA), and an aggressive and talented defender of the status quo, is scheduled to testify about hybrid plans adopted throughout the country (and maybe other topics). Brainard and Prof. Josh Rauh from Northwestern’s Kellogg School have been carrying on a public (virtual debate).
The Minnesota Free Market Institute invited Andrew Biggs from the American Enterprise Institute (“AEI), a DC based think tank to testify on November 10th, as well.
Andrew G. Biggs is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC. Prior to joining AEI he was the principal deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), where he oversaw SSA’s policy research efforts and led the agency’s participation in the Social Security Trustees working group. His impressive qualifications can be viewed here. You can view his publications here.
Encouragement Amidst U.S. Downgrade and Global Selloff : Let’s Renew Declaration of Independence From Ourselves
The good news, we hope, is that this difficult period-which we have not seen the bottom of— will cure young people (current and future voters) of the notion that government creates jobs, government spending stimulates the economy and that it’s OK for government to borrow to pay back debt.
That will only happen if we teach and convince our young taxpayers/voters that our freedom and prosperity comes from private property rights and private enterprise operating under a government of Limited Powers. Maybe then they will be less tempted than their parents and grandparents to trade their freedom for what has turned out to be an illusive security-or to shove the costly burden of their retirement and health care onto their children and grandchildren while fooling themselves that they have paid for it.
It is up to us to tell this story accurately and to remind all Americans of our heritage as a free, not dependent, people. Our friends on the left are poised with a moral to the story that we did not spend enough, that government just needs to do more and we can pay for it by taxing “the rich.” They run our public schools and dominate the media and universities-thus they have a lot of control over the message.
Free market enthusiasts need to bust through the left wing noise to tell the young that we have been playing a loser’s game for decades that they would be wise to reject as they take the helm early in the 21st century. Let’s start with a Re-Declaration of our Independence from the weight of our own human insecurities that fuel oppressive government laden with massive entitlements for individuals and corporations alike. Let’s Re-Declare the radical notion, proposed in 1787 in the U.S. Constitution, that our federal government is one of Limited Powers and tap our ingenuity to peel off the chains that bind us. This requires leadership from all of us.
Bring on the 2012 Elections. They cannot come soon enough.