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
Re: [Homestead] Social Security 2005
, (continued)