ational
THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 1981
Page 11
aving Social Security would penalize early retirees
^publican
c Sen, Jad
ien s- Job
n Republj.
ict.
Mengda,
V I m United Press International
Hi IwASHINGTON — The
R f ((ran administration Tuesday
■oposed to save Social Security
bytheredB penalizing people who retire
Bfore age 65, rewarding those
l,an woi B, 0 W ork longer and giving every-
n g r essmetl e a tax cut beginning in 1985.
senatorial if But although they painted the
nat °rs into Bogram as painless, except for
]p S e wanting early retirement,
Bcials conceded under question-
that future beneficiaries would
Jer some slight cuts through an
ljustment in the formula used to
Impute benefit checks.
a -. u J “We do have a plan to keep
but wouic |f>rial Security in the black. We
■ have a plan that keeps the re-
- 1 nr-* age at 65 but most impor-
of all, this plan does not re-
llove from the plan or cut benefits
1*1/ for anyone presently getting So-
X X Jcial Security,” said Health and
• Human Services Secretary
Richard Schweiker.
Schweiker, who briefed eon-
ij Sessional leaders before making
the plan public, emphasized the
ccurred i only effect on today’s 31 million
raids seefiKtirees would be a three-month
man Grepldelay in payment of the cost-of-
said eaclliving increase.
idtoopentf For future retirees, the admi-
1 the an*
nistration proposes a change in the
formula used to compute benefits
that will result in a check that is a
total of 3 percent smaller by Jan. 1,
1987. For the average 65-year-old
retiring on Jan. 1, 1987, that will
mean a check of $691.90 a month
instead of the $719 he would get
under the present law.
The plan makes strong use of
incentives — both to encourage
people to stay on the job past age
65 and to penalize financially the
two-thirds of workers that now opt
for early retirement beginning at
age 62.
Early retirees now get 80 per
cent of the benefits they are eligi
ble to receive at age 65. The
Reagan plan would give them 55
percent and save $17 billion by
1986, sources said.
That means the average Social
Security beneficiary who now re
tires early and receives $372.80 a
month would get $246.80 begin
ning Jan. 1, 1982, when the mea
sure would take effect, the gov
ernment said.
By January 1987, the average
worker retiring early would get
only $348.30 a month, compared
with the $580.70 he could expect
under the present law.
The plan also encourages work
ers to remain on the job past 65 by
phasing out over five years an
earnings limitation that now takes
$1 of every $2 in benefits a reci
pient earns over $5,500.
Schweiker called the limitation
“a penalty now in law which dis
courages senior citizens from re
maining in the labor force.”
The proposed tax cut would
ease Social Security payments for
workers beginning in 1985, cut
ting that year’s payments to 6.45
percent of the flrst $29,700 earned
— lower than the current tax of
6.65 percent. Under legislation
passed by Congress in 1978, pay
ments are scheduled to rise to 7.05
percent in 1985 and 7.65 percent
in 1990.
The proposed tax cut would
ease Social Security payments for
workers beginning in 1985. The
administration proposed two op
tions, and officials said they would
ask Congress for authority to
choose one based on the condition
of the Social Security trust fund at
the time.
Under the administration’s ex
pected economic assumptions,
payments would be cut to 6.45
percent of the first $29,700 earned
by a worker — lower than the cur
rent tax of 6.65 percent. Under
legislation passed by Congress in
1978, payments are scheduled to
rise to 7.05 percent in 1985 and
7.65 percent in 1990.
But under what it termed
“worst case” economic assump
tions, the administration’s plan
would offer a 6.95 percent rate in
1985, a 7.05 percent rate from
1986-1989 and a 6.45 percent rate
beginning in 1990.
The plan would also strip from
Social Security some provisions
Schweiker described as “welfare-
oriented.”
About 36 million people now
receive Social Security checks tot
aling about $140 billion annually.
Some 31 million are retired, with
the rest receiving disability, sup
plemental benefits or kidney dis
ease treatment from the program.
“Some of these changes will be
difficult. But as things now stand,
without changes, the Social Secur
ity trust fund deficit could climb as
high as $111 billion in the next five
years,” said Schweiker, who
added the system would go broke
next year otherwise.
“The crisis is inescapable. It is
here. It is now.”
The administration has pro
jected a deficit of about $40 billion
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ccalsoldl
mond F(
ncident.
led
pinkhole engulfs
uildings, cars,
keeps growing
Two
;ess;
ted ‘
and Bil!;..
murder
)dy was foe
wdaysearlf :
iort,theai , . .
1 R United Press International
f V flNTER PARK, Fla.
I1U ’ 0rllC „% re eommcrcial buildings crum-
■V ev 7jd“by bits and pieces” Tuesday
ie . . »> a yawning sinkhole that is
nigilsnu Ujng a Winter Park neighbor-
nod into an expensive dump pit.
■Fire officials in the central Flor-
■ city said the chasm continued
n IT /ifc naw at eart h beneath a laundry
d lit Idling a nd an adjacent printing
ip, and there was little hope
business would be spared.
By late Monday, about 15 feet
the rear of the laundry was
ging over the rim of the cavity,
jile Color Press Inc. collapsed
jtings an “bybitsand pieces,” said Assistant
vonjans it pn> Chief Michael Molthop.
mown inial I n addition, the German Car
id her fs fervice, which has already lost a
the pres^. quarter of its property — includ-
tgfive Porsche cars — to the pit,
en only was expected to lose the remain-
resultingbder of its building.
, one in Es| Authorities, who erected a
istralia. ]( 4,000-foot-long, chain-link fence
ifth test! to keep curious onlookers and
verbeem opportunistic vendors selling hot
3ans theepdogs, lemonade and “Winter Park
dish and t Sinkhole” T-shirts back from the
iman. edge of the absyss, said there is
nic had k little they can do beyond that.
Ily for mei “We’re just sitting back letting
ve a testt Mother Nature do her thing,” said
credited ' Fire Capt. Gus LaGarde.
atientsinftl They have nixed attempts to
i injections wage the cars and other items
natural 1 from the pit because of the
ireakthroucjdanger.
,. W I I decided to prevent any sal-
ey.du-ecjjge operation for now ” said
H ^""“teistant City- Manager John Lin-
e , n v . ; Jf n - Even the weight of one man
h ' , mid sc, it off again."
|] ™“T Real estate agent Bob Govern,
111 ""mi i I )Wner °fone of the Porsches lying
P*L was l ess thtin pleased
' vished about the fate of his car.
J “ Tf
:an of the' 1 ;
n w;
l ier .-.I I took the thing in to have the
li —
transmission repaired, not bury
it, ” he said. But he added, “I’d just
as soon see the car stay in the hole
if insurance covers it. Twenty-
thousand, forty-thousand dollars
— whatever the car is worth — it’s
not worth getting somebody
maimed.”
A truck dealership moved its
trucks off a lot near the edge of the
hole and five homes were evacu
ated as a precautionary measure,
although authorities said none
were in immediate danger.
The sinkhole began opening
Friday on the fringes of a commer
cial and low-income residential
area in western Winter Park. By
the end of the weekend it had de
voured a three-bedroom frame
house, the five sports cars and a
camper from the auto agency,
most of a municipal swimming
pool, parts of three streets and
several trees.
City officials said damage esti
mates were “in the millions of dol
lars” and geologists observing the
phenomenon said it could still
widen another 100 feet.
On Monday, engineers from
the Florida Department of Trans
portation, using surveying equip
ment, calculated the hole mea
sures 333 feet east to west and 300
feet north to south — slightly lar
ger than a soccer field. The center,
which has begun to fill with water,
is about 46 feet deep to the water
line.
“It would cost well over $1 mil
lion to fill the sinkhole,” said Lin
ton, who met with city council-
men Monday afternoon. “If we
leave it as it is, it will eventually fill
up on its own (with water.)
Geologists attribute the phe
nomenon to a drop in the water
tables caused by the severe
drought in the area.
Human
(forts to cl®
n the field
i are tali
•ate,” he®®
on to
unceinents- 1
no coiM llE '
J
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