[Homestead] Social Security 2005

Gene GeRue genegerue at ruralize.com
Mon Dec 13 12:34:38 EST 2004


>Remember there is that huge chunk they have to pay back already and that 
>is what Greenspan is warning about.

Because the "payback" is so important to so many people, it is being used 
as a scare tactic by those whose purpose is suited. Consider how much money 
the U.S. owes to and borrows from other sources, like Japan and Germany. It 
seems reasonable to me that, if the Bush administration is not worried 
about the size of the increasing budget deficit, trade imbalance, and total 
national indebtedness, that the Social Security bonds should likewise be 
considered by the administration to be of no great import.

Thus far, it seems to me that the privatization proposal will mainly 
benefit Wall Street and the various managers, who will add to the costs, 
just as the HMOs add to the cost of health care. Individuals cannot be 
trusted to administer their own accounts. They would spend them on real or 
invented emergencies, use the accounts as a financial cushion, or borrow 
against them, thereby creating the old-age penury condition that existed 
before Social Security was begun.

Here is a good site to read to understand the background and conditions 
that led to the concept of a national social security plan:
http://www.ssa.gov/history/early.html





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