Social Security Disinformation

The most recent edition of the Goffstown News
contained a letter titled:

Bush's plan for Social
Security is gambling with the future

.

There is so much disinformation circulating,
concerning this subject. And this letter is either
part of that campaign or from someone that is poorly
informed as to the crisis this nation is facing.

Let me begin by stating three indisputable
facts.
1)Social Security will be paying out more than it
brings in 2017.
2)Social Security will be bankrupt by 2042.
3)Bush's plan does not affect people 55 or older.
There is no denying these facts.

Something must be done about this now or no one that
has payed into social security will receive anything
from it.
That is a bad return on an investment, don't you
think?
If it is looked at logically social security is not
secure and won't be unless something is done. People
also seem to have lost sight of what social security
is, it is a retirement supplement to defray the costs
of living with no active source of income. --Read the
Social Security Act sometime, it is very interesting
reading--
If the "baby boomers" and seniors will quit acting so
infantile, they will see that by the time their
children and grandchildren retire, those generations
will be paying for huge for increases in the Social
Security tax and cuts in benefits. Are they so selfish
that they can't see that their children and
grandchildren will exist just to pay Social Security
taxes?
This is a very unfair burden to the younger
generations. I know I don't want my daughter paying
50% or more of her income to Social Security.
What does this quote have to do with Social Security?
"We've seen wiped-out retirement funds; from Enron and
Lucent to Healthsouth and WorldCom: Millions of stock/
retirement dollars evaporated." This has nothing to do
with Social Security, these are 401k's etc. I believe
anyone who invested in these companies signed
something to the effect of: their investment is not
guaranteed a profit and could lose money. They did not
decide how your Social Security money is invested.
These companies or companies like them will not be
running our personal retirement accounts. These
companies' executives are being investigated, charged
and convicted for the crimes they committed.

President Bush misspoke about the the T bills. T bills
were an incorrect term. This is what I believe he was
trying to convey.

Congress for years now has been taking money from the
social security trust fund and using it for the
general
budget. And they(Congress) have issued worthless
IOU's, because Congress has no intention of paying the
money back.

The private stock market is not a risky gamble. It is
a gamble, but life is a gamble. Take a look at the
long term growth of the stock market. It has grown
consistently and steadily in the last 50 years.
Yes, there economic downturns but they are short lived
and sporadic. All in all a good vehicle for long term
investment. If it is looked at with the short term in
mind it is quite volatile. But retirement is being
discussed here and the long term model should always
be considered, not the short term.

President Bush's plan for Social Security might not be
the best plan. It is the only plan I have heard, and I
have yet to hear one idea from the opposition. Instead
of bemoaning how wrong Bush's plan is, why not put
some viable alternatives on the table for discussion.
And by alternatives I don't mean tax increases.
All I keep hearing is how we can't change the
cornerstone of FDR's New Deal.

Personally, I would like to see the Social Security
Act, the Welfare Act and any other entitlement act
repealed. Congress and the President have no
constitutional authority to enact legislation for the
express purpose of taking money from one group and
giving it to another. This power is not enumerated
once in the Constitution. If all this was cut from the
budget, deficits would be non-existent.

Published 05/05/2005 in the Goffstown News
M Loveless