Speculation? or is this another back door attempt to steal Social Security and give it to the Wall Street brokers?"
This whole Social Security thing is getting totally out of hand. Georgie and Karl don't need any more encouragement, and certainly suggestions like this one are so inherently fraught with risk that I don't even want to think about it. Of course he is only talking about a "portion" of the SS fund, but once we start down that road, the portions will certainly be subject to change. If the current house and senate were able to mess with these portions, it could be anything from 1% to 95% or more. And we know how well we can trust the folks in congress and on wall street to administer and protect this money. Read it for yourself and decide what Mr Levine is saying.
IRVING R. LEVINE, Dean Emeritus of International Studies at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, is a veteran news correspondent and commentator with a half century of experience covering four continents. The former Chief Economics Correspondent for NBC News was the first network correspondent to cover the economy full-time, winning a number of awards for his ground-breaking reporting during his 25 years in Washington.
05/12/05: Commentary: A Simple Solution For Social Security Reform
SUSIE GHARIB: Tonight`s commentator says there might be a simple solution to the challenge of reforming Social Security. Here`s Irving R. Levine, dean of international studies at Lynn University and former chief economics correspondent for NBC News.
IRVING R. LEVINE, DEAN EMERITUS, INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, LYNN UNIVERSITY: One of President Bush`s main arguments for personal retirement accounts is that money invested by individuals in the stock market would grow faster than money held by the Social Security fund. History shows the president is right. The Social Security fund is limited by law to investing in low-yield government bonds. But look at stocks. Forty years ago the Dow industrials stood at 900. Today the Dow is around 10,000. If an individual had invested in Dow index stocks over a 40-year working life, the worker would retire with a nifty nest egg. But critics of the president`s proposal correctly point out that the market has downs as well as ups. It`s a risk individuals can`t afford to take with retirement money. But unlike an individual, the Social Security fund has resources in the trillions of dollars in government bonds and could ride out downturns in the market. Congress should allow the Social Security trust fund to invest in stocks a portion of the billions it receives from the withholding tax on workers` wages. If stocks perform as they have in the past 40 years, Social Security worries might be over. I am Irving R. Levine.
You can view this and other remarks by business pundits at the web site
NBR
It makes me wonder if this was something he came to on his own or was "encouraged" to by the white house gang. It seems to me that what Mr Levine is suggesting is moving our IOU's from the file cabnet to the pockets of wall street brokers. Why is it no one ever mentions the cost of such actions, as in broker fees? And what would happen when large numbers all hit retirement age at the same time and all want to cash out. Wouldn't such a draw on the sale of stocks drive the market down? How would that be good for the possible earnings of SS invested in stocks? We are talking HUGE amounts of money here even if they are only investing say 30% of the fund. It makes me feel very uneasy.
If I am off the beam about all this, I am sure some of you very "stock literate" people will straighten me out (well, so to speak).