If everybody invested even a portion of their SS money in a Vanguard S&P 500 index fund, the money is still going to Wall Street due to the suddenly increased demand for the underlying stocks, the market will skyrocket. Temporarily.
Most willingly invest some of their 401K or other pension vehicle’s money in stock funds at present. The Ryan proposal would allow this to be done with your own Social Security contributions. Yes, Wall Street benefits, but wherever you put your money for investment, an institution is going to benefit even if you keep it with your local bank-and earn nothing on it.
The proposal by James would be an actual tax - not voluntary. The gubmint slaps a tax on us and funnels some of the money directly to Wall Street (you know the gubmint would keep most of it for “administrative purposes”. What could be more insidious than that?
For decades, big gubmint liberals have been proposing schemes to divest people of their retirement funds. Most of them have been aimed at getting to the money after it’s already been salted away. This one aims to take it before you have a chance to salt it away and use it to buy backing and influence. Sick.