Editorials & Opinion Forgotten Treasure
Editorial: A Solemn Occasion WBreak out the grill, sweep the boat, untangle the fishing wire — Memorial Day Weekend is finally here, that one-day holiday encompassed by a three-day celebration of warmer weather (except maybe this year). As the unofficial kick-off of summer, Memorial Day, with its cookouts and flags-on-the-used-car-lot patriotism, has come to have a decidedly Fourth of July feel, only without the fireworks and major corporate sponsorship. Flags and parades notwithstanding, however, Memorial Day is supposed to be very different in tone and content from the nation’s birthday party in July. The observance began with decorating the graves of war dead, a custom that sprang up spontaneously all over the country during and immediately after the Civil War. Unlike Independence Day celebrations, designed to swell national pride, this holiday was born out of a need to deal with grief and loss, to honor lost loved ones by bringing a bit of life and color, if just for one day out of the year, to silent rows of names carved in slate and granite. As the holiday evolved from small local ceremonies to a national observance, it also came to symbolize a sense of shared sacrifice. By the end of World War I, the entire country was marking the occasion on the same day in May (previous to that time, many Southern states recognized a different date for Memorial Day). The association of red poppies with Memorial Day also came out of World War I; the flowers were widely sold in the 1920s as part of a joint French and American effort to raise money for war orphans. As the country, and the armed forces, has continued to diversify, the holiday has become an occasion for military families of many ages and ethnic groups to come together, even as a sense of shared sacrifice among people from all walks of life — and between this country and other countries — has eroded. The upshot of this last development is that Memorial Day itself is now seen by many as a holiday for veterans. Our most recent military conflicts aside, however, war has always demanded more than just business as usual from Americans on the Home Front. Memorial Day should also represent more than business as usual, even if it’s just a walk over to Chestnut Hill’s war memorial on Ardleigh Street, a visit to a local cemetery (how many in the Northwest are even aware that a national cemetery exists in West Oak Lane, and that Civil War nurses — members of the order of the Sisters of St. Joseph — are buried at Chestnut Hill College?) or observance of the National Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m. As they do every year, the local VFW will sponsor a ceremony at Buckley Park at 11 a.m. on Monday. In other words, have fun this weekend — but keep in mind what the holiday is really about. James Sturdivant Opinion: Is Germantown being left out and losing its identity? by NETTIE BOYKIN and PAMELA BRACEY In Germantown it appears as though almost every week or so a business or institution is closing and/or leaving the neighborhood and a business not in the best interest of the community is moving in. What is going on here? Germantown is a neighborhood of smaller communities of people who can remember when it was the place to be and the place to go. Some of the reasons people moved to Germantown included a sense of tolerance and acceptance missing in some neighborhoods of the city; affordable housing in a suburban-like setting; great schools; very old places of worship; a sense of history; architectural gems; and institutions and business that make a community viable. Listed are a few items that make or made our lives better here in Germantown: • The telephone company on Chelten Avenue enabled people to pay their bill without having to pay a fee. Now many residents are paying at bill paying centers What has happened here lately? Germantown is being overrun with “dollar stores” and “99 Cents” stores. The farmer’s market, which served the community for many years, was allowed to close and was replaced by a Family Dollar in a building of historic significance. Don’t we want to maintain any of the historic fabric of our neighborhood, either at this location or elsewhere in the community? Or do we want to stucco everything, paint houses or buildings colors not appropriate to historic or older properties, change the windows, doors and facades of the buildings so much that the next generation won’t know what the architectural details were — or more importantly, why we moved here in the first place. There has been an increase of absentee landlords, Section 8 housing residents, illegal drug activities, murders, trash, group homes (drug rehab facilities and other institutions), as well as a slower response in city services such as street repairs, tree pruning, boarding up of vacant buildings and changes in police districts that make police response time slower in some parts of the community. Do you think there is a correlation between the drastic changes in Germantown — the above-listed — and the increase in property sale prices, higher taxes, investors from New York and other areas purchasing many properties for cash, land banking, gentrification in certain areas of the community and an appearance of disregard by some elected officials for Germantown? There is no Philadelphia City Planning Commission plan for Germantown. Do you get the feeling that Germantown is being left out? Do you think it is due to a lack of a City Planning Commission plan or do you think plans are written for Germantown and when the time arrives for implementation Germantown is left out again? All over the city, neighborhood residents are receiving services; new houses are being built and older ones are being repaired and/or renovated. Other neighborhoods are being revived while Germantown is being allowed to slowly die. Do you think it is because the other neighborhoods “have a plan” written by their Councilperson along with community input? Why haven’t meetings been held by our Councilwoman, Donna Reed Miller, in which the entire community is invited for input? A comprehensive plan can then be written to encompass the entire Germantown neighborhood, not just selected areas. How does Germantown get a plan? The community is waiting. Doesn’t Germantown deserve something better? Don’t we merit something other than discount stores? Aren’t we worthy of the businesses of the past and the businesses requested by the Germantown Courier’s People’s Poll (Feb. 2005) respondents? These include: a farmer’s market or Whole Foods store, a movie theater, a good name brand department store, another store like Woolworth’s, more spaces open for kids like the Recreation Center and the YMCA, more clothing stores, a pharmacy where seniors can come in and pick up their medications. Germantown needs a plan now before it’s too late. Time is running out! Nettie Boykin are Pamela Bracey are residents of Germantown. Opinion: Making the Social Security trust fund last longer by ROBERT ROSSMAN There has been so much published about how important it is to not make any changes to Social Security — or at least if changes were made, then about who is going to be the loser — that I thought it might be useful to provide some fresh thoughts. The Social Security trustees recently issued their report about the state of Social Security. You can read the report at http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/index.html. What lots of people have been focusing on is that “Projected OASDI tax income will begin to fall short of outlays in 2017 and will be sufficient to finance only 74 percent of scheduled annual benefits by 2041, when the combined OASDI trust fund is projected to be exhausted.” In other words, the trust fund will continue to grow until 2017 and then will shrink until it is gone in 2041. I was born in 1942; in 2041 I’ll be 99. Perhaps I shouldn’t worry too much. In 2017 I’ll be 75, I should still be spending money then. My son, who was born in 1970, will be 47 then and 71 when the trust fund runs out in 2041. All of the talk so far about getting the trust fund to last longer has involved pain for someone. Either increase the taxes so there is more money coming in or decrease the benefits so there would be less money going out. There is a third way to make the trust funds last longer. The money that is in the trust funds is now invested in treasury bonds, which yield about 2 percent annually after accounting for inflation. If some or all of the money were invested in the stock market, the expected yield would be better. In every 20-year period since there have been decent records (about 1890), stocks have always outperformed treasury bonds. Every time — even those 20-year periods that included the Great Depression; even those 20-year periods that included the “dot com” bubble. But there is a problem with letting the Social Security trustees buy stocks. There is one and a half trillion dollars in the trust fund now, and by 2017 that is expected to grow by another two trillion. The trustees would end up owning a majority of all corporations. So the question is how to get those funds into the stock market while still spreading the ownership among the citizens at large. The trustees can predict that the trust is going to run out of money because there is a present value of the stream of payment going to retirees. If you are already collecting Social Security, you can go to a web site such as www.investopedia.com/calculator/AnnuityPV.aspx and get the calculation. On this site, you can use 2 percent as the interest rate. I used 20 years as the life of the annuity. You can look up your expected life span at www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/life2002.pdf. I multiplied my monthly check by 12 to get the payment amount. The value that the calculator returns is less than 20 years of payments, because of those 2 percent interest earnings. Now, if the trustees would give me that amount as a lump sum now, I would put at least some of that money in the stock market. That would make me better off, but it wouldn’t affect the trust fund in 2041. The trust fund would be smaller today because of the lump sum payment, but since Social Security would not be making payments to me in the future months, in 20 years there would be exactly the same amount in the trust fund. That is how the present value calculation works. Now, to make the trust fund larger in 20 years, we must take one more step. Since I think that I will be better off investing the money myself rather than keeping it in the trust fund at 2 percent, I will be willing to take a somewhat smaller lump sum than the present value of the payments. To the extent that I take a smaller lump sum in 20 years the trust fund will be that much larger. In fact, with my history as an investor, I think I can do twice as well as treasury bonds. If I took a lump sum that was 50 percent of the expected value I would expect to do just as well as if I continued to collect Social Security. But of course I’m not willing to take the risk to do just as well. But give me the option to take a lump sum at 75 percent of the expected value and I would take it. I would be better off and the trust fund would last a little longer. The lump sum does not have to be paid out in cash. It can be paid out in the treasury bonds that are in the trust fund, as long as I am allowed to sell those bonds on the open market, if I choose to do so. The national debt doesn’t change, more would be in private hands rather than in the trust fund, but the total would be the same. If the entire one and a half trillion dollars were invested in lump sums for retired people that were willing to accept 75 percent of the present value of their expected payments, that would be the equivalent of putting another half a trillion dollars in the trust fund. Are there enough people like me who are comfortable enough as investors of use the entire trust fund? I don’t know. But wouldn’t it be worth finding out? Don’t forget the trust fund will continue to grow until 2017, which is less than 20 years away. With all these people no longer getting payments, the trust fund would continue to grow beyond 2017. When the trust funds are scheduled to run out under the current scheme in 2041 there will be enough money coming in to pay 74 percent of the benefits. If everyone were willing to take the equivalent of 75 percent that I am proposing, then the trust fund would never run out! But everyone won’t take this option, and it should be optional. So this plan will only improve things, not solve the entire problem. But it will make things better without causing any pain. There are many people who are very dependant on their Social Security payments. They should especially get the option of increased investment earnings. Chestnut Hill resident Robert Rossman is a trustee of the Germantown Republican Club. |
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