From The President
By Bennie L. Thayer, NASE President

The Billion Byte March -- Your Chance To
Take Part In Reforming Social Security

This December, the NASE will use the power of the Internet to bring the Social Security debate to a new level. You’re invited to take part.

The NASE is a founding member of an unprecedented Internet project called the “Billion Byte March.” This exciting project will be the first ever Internet march on Washington. The purpose of the march is to save and remodel Social Security for the 21st century. I am proud to have been named a co-chairman of this innovative event.

In his State of the Union address, President Clinton asked the nation to make saving Social Security its top priority. Opinion polls suggest that’s happened. The President set 1998 as a year of education and discussion -- laying the groundwork for Social Security changes in 1999.

The NASE needs your help now. We need to create an atmosphere in which the President and Congress feel the urgency to reform Social Security in 1999. That will happen only when millions of American citizens join together and tell our national leaders to provide real retirement security through a system that maintains our current safety net while opening new doors to savings.

Tremendous risks and opportunities confront small-business owners in the debate. We face the potential for a disastrous payroll tax increase or a chance to restore Social Security’s luster by allowing individuals to invest some of their taxes into special retirement accounts, thereby improving benefits and reducing pressure for higher taxes. The NASE will continue to be the leading small-business voice in the Social Security debate as we join forces with other nonpartisan groups to promote true Social Security reform.

Our position is simple: No! Small-business owners do not want payroll taxes to jump from the current 12.4 percent to a whopping 18 percent -- an increase of almost 50 percent. Yes! We do want to put $500 to $1,000 of our existing Social Security taxes into personal savings accounts, like 401(k)s, invested in the private sector. We want to own these accounts ourselves and have them become part of our estates.

Those of you who have Internet access can help by contacting the NASE or Economic Security 2000. We will recruit “March Marshals,” each charged with getting friends and colleagues to send 100 e-mail messages on a designated day in December. Working together, we’ll create the “Billion Byte March” -- an unparalleled project that will help persuade our national leaders to heed the voices of America’s small businesses.

Thank you in advance for your efforts. Together we can elevate small businesses and the self-employed to a prominent position in the national Social Security debate.

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