Many years ago I postulated on how to fix Social Security. At the time, not understanding the mechanics of 401ks, I put forward the idea that Soc. Sec. should be privatized, with all funds put into federally guaranteed 401k-like investment programs.
I was niave.
Now that the feds are actually looking to do what I had proposed, and now that I'm older, wiser, and realize that 401ks are only as good as the funds the money is actually invested in, I want to tailor what I said. I had one thing right -- any solution must carry with it a guarantee from the government that, if the investment funds tank, some social program will be there to catch the elderly before they become homeless and destitute.
Millions of people trust their government and their society to give back to them in their old age, and those people are going to be hurt badly if the stock market takes a dump just as they reach 65 and they have no money, no ability to work, and no where to turn.
One thing hasn't changed. I hit it dead on when I wrote, "The young support the old, and there's too many old people nowadays and too little disposable income for the young thanks to inflation and Republican taxation schemes that take money from the poor and give it to the rich..." I was speaking of Reagan-era Republicans, but the NeoCon Repubs are even worse, and blatantly, in-your-face so.
I also opined that no one would have the intestinal fortitude to actually reform Soc.Sec. I was wrong, but then I didn't figure into the equation the possibility that the American public would knowingly reelect someone so self-interested, so utterly invested in widening and firming the gap between the elite 0.001% and the rest of the American public.
If Bush can put together a plan that guarantees that I'll get my expected retirement benefits, then I"m all for it. If he can't make that guarantee, then I say leave the program exactly the way it is. And if he doesn't like that answer, then he can come on down and tell me as much to my face.
Ooooooo, I'd just love that, I really would......
Look, if you really want to fix Social Security, remove the cap. Right now you only pay Social Security taxes on the first $90,000 dollars you earn. That means Bill Gates pays as much as I do, no matter how much he makes. I say, if you got rich from within this system, then you have a responsibility to pay a proportionate amount back into the system. The same 5.6% should apply on every dollar you earn. If we remove the cap, according to the Senate Finance Committee, we'll see over $3 billion pour into the system annually right away. COME ON! This is a no brainer, folks. Write your Congressman and tell him to get serious about this.