I am a 55-year-old woman, part of the obnoxious Baby Boomer crowd, and so retirement isn't a distant fantasy to me. I have been feeling for some time that those of us who oppose the First Crackhead in the White House need to chose one big issue to oppose him on, something that we can get support from both the right and the left. Social Security is that issue.
As far as I am concerned, and I would think most Americans, Social Security is a promise that was made to us long ago by our government. We would not have meekly submitted to having it subtracted from our salaries if we had had a glimmer of belief that down the line it would be taken from us. I can't help but believe that one of the reasons they're running this deficit up so high is to have a legitimate (in their minds) excuse for not having the money to fulfil that social contract that the government made with us, the taxpayers.
Therefore, I am for a movement whose SOLE issue is the preservation of Social Security in the form that it was established. For one reason, how can anybody believe that individuals, even the smartest ones, can hold privatized Social Security accounts and be reasonably sure of ending up with a retirement income? They would have to invest it in the same venues that we have now and having lived through a few stock market "corrections" in my lifetime, I don't have a hell of a lot of confidence in stocks, and the current CD bank rates are a pathetic joke. So where are these individuals going to put their SS money that will be both safe and provide a decent return?
Secondly, as far as I know, an insurance company that wants to write annuity policies is required by law to put aside the money in a secure account that cannot be expended for other uses, so that the "contractual promise" can be fulfilled when the time comes. This is what poor wooden Al Gore was speaking of when he kept talking about a "lockbox" for Social Security. I just don't think people knew what the reference was to and why it was of concern. If Social Security had ever been, or would be now, placed aside from the rest of the federal treasury as the sacred trust that it should have been, there would be no reason to fear for a very long time.
Thirdly, what the heck is the reason to borrow two trillion dollars to fund this privatization? Well, I can only believe that's a boodle that they're hoping to steal for themselves at some future date.
In conclusion, I can think of no single issue on which we're likely to get more concern raised and people banding togething than to oppose this ridiculous scheme to privatize Social Security. A major defeat of this hateful scheme would be so satisfying for us and so humiliating for them... but, more importantly, it would achieve a political goal that serves to protect the future of millions of Americans. Not a bad deal, I don't think. Who's with me?