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Privatizing Social Security
Townhall.com ^ | September 28, 2004 | Thomas Sowell

Posted on 09/28/2004 7:27:13 AM PDT by The Great Yazoo

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Nothing is more risky than depending on politicians.

Can you say Ponzi? The federal government would jail any private enterprise that remotely tried to apply today's social security principles in its own business. If it's illegal for private citizens, it ought to be illegal for the federal government.
1 posted on 09/28/2004 7:27:13 AM PDT by The Great Yazoo
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To: The Great Yazoo; Mo1; Howlin; Peach; BeforeISleep; kimmie7; 4integrity; BigSkyFreeper; ...

Thomas Sowell ping..........


2 posted on 09/28/2004 7:27:46 AM PDT by OXENinFLA
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To: The Great Yazoo

At the very least I should be able to put just a portion of the money I pay in to be put into government bonds. What is wrong with that? How can the Libs argue with investing in the governemnt?


3 posted on 09/28/2004 7:31:14 AM PDT by frog_jerk_2004
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To: The Great Yazoo

We should have the option of what Galveston TX did.


How Galveston Opted Out of Social Security

http://www.libertyhaven.com/politicsandcurrentevents/healthcarewelfareorsocialsecurity/galveston.shtml


4 posted on 09/28/2004 7:34:07 AM PDT by frog_jerk_2004
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To: The Great Yazoo
The argument that Americans would risk their retirements through speculative stock investments is silly. If they were really worried about that, they could invest in Treasury securities, just like the "trust fund" does now. The difference is, the citizen would OWN title to the bonds. He could pass them to his heirs. He could spend them on a trip to Tahiti. The point is, that if he were to die prematurely, the would not be forfeited as they are now.

The Republicans need to alter Social Security, but it has to be done incrementally. The best first step would be to give title to the underlying assets to each American. Each person should have ownership of the "investments" made on his behalf, at least after death.

5 posted on 09/28/2004 7:35:04 AM PDT by Sgt_Schultze
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To: The Great Yazoo
The argument that Americans would risk their retirements through speculative stock investments is silly. If they were really worried about that, they could invest in Treasury securities, just like the "trust fund" does now. The difference is, the citizen would OWN title to the bonds. He could pass them to his heirs. He could spend them on a trip to Tahiti. The point is, that if he were to die prematurely, the would not be forfeited as they are now.

The Republicans need to alter Social Security, but it has to be done incrementally. The best first step would be to give title to the underlying assets to each American. Each person should have ownership of the "investments" made on his behalf, at least after death.

6 posted on 09/28/2004 7:35:18 AM PDT by Sgt_Schultze
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To: Sgt_Schultze

Press once Schultze.


7 posted on 09/28/2004 7:35:47 AM PDT by Sgt_Schultze
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To: The Great Yazoo

People sign up for marriage contracts all the time, even though the government can and does change the terms without the consent of EITHER of the parties to the marriage. Time to rebel against ALL these contracts with the government.


8 posted on 09/28/2004 7:43:11 AM PDT by GovernmentShrinker (Donate to the Swift Vets -- www.swiftvets.com)
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To: The Great Yazoo
Privatization won't happen in my lifetime - the senior lobby won't allow it.

That said, being that politicians pander to the large senior voting bloc, I expect to be living under a bridge someday just to subsidize the maintanance fees on their condos.

9 posted on 09/28/2004 7:44:00 AM PDT by A Ruckus of Dogs
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To: Sgt_Schultze
The Republicans need to alter Social Security, but it has to be done incrementally.

Agreed. A slow but steady movement to a new hybrid system.

10 posted on 09/28/2004 7:52:56 AM PDT by JPJones ("We'll cross all our tee's and dot all our.....lower case j's")
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To: The Great Yazoo

I'd get a better return on my investment buying baseball
cards.


11 posted on 09/28/2004 7:53:15 AM PDT by Rakkasan1 (Justice of the Piece)
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To: GovernmentShrinker

Good point about marriage contracts being altered or amended by the government from time-to-time without consent. But at least with marriage contracts, the parties themselves can alter the consequences of governmental mettling through the use of pre- and post-nuptial agreements. That is an option not afforded we subjects to the federal social security system nanny.


12 posted on 09/28/2004 8:41:23 AM PDT by The Great Yazoo (JFK: He's a real nowhere man, Sitting in his nowhereland, Making all his nowhere plans For nobody)
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To: The Great Yazoo
Another reason for liberal opposition to private investment of Social Security payments is that it deprives them of control of billions of dollars that they have been spending from the Social Security trust fund for years. They can buy a lot of votes with all sorts of giveaway programs, financed by money taken from Social Security.

Correction: The real reason...

13 posted on 09/28/2004 8:50:07 AM PDT by TaxRelief (Kerry lied and good men died, and Moms worried, and heroes were spit on, and children were ostraci..)
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To: The Great Yazoo
Would you sign a contract that enabled the other party to change the terms of that contract at will, while you could neither stop him nor make any changes of your own?

Or...would you invest your retirement savings in a plan that showed a -1% long-term return?

14 posted on 09/28/2004 9:47:56 AM PDT by Fredgoblu
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To: The Great Yazoo

Federal Employees have the option of investing a portion of their income in the Thrift Savings Program( http://www.tsp.gov ). If they can do something like this, why not the rest of the population?


15 posted on 09/28/2004 9:50:13 AM PDT by Paradox (Occam was probably right.)
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To: qam1; ItsOurTimeNow; PresbyRev; tortoise; Fraulein; StoneColdGOP; Clemenza; malakhi; m18436572; ...
Xer Ping

Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social aspects that directly effects Gen-Reagan/Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.

Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.

16 posted on 09/28/2004 10:13:43 AM PDT by qam1 (McGreevy likes his butts his way, I like mine my way - so NO SMOKING BANS in New Jersey)
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To: Sgt_Schultze

Measure twice, cut once, or something.


17 posted on 09/28/2004 12:07:00 PM PDT by Xenalyte (Anything is possible when you don't understand how anything happens.)
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To: The Great Yazoo

What about when a couple with a dependent spouse (usually the wife) moves from one state to another, from a "community property" state to one that isn't? The marriage already occurred, and given the laws of the state where the couple married, they didn't feel a pre-nup was necessary. But now, say with the husband having finished medical which the wife worked to put him through, the national residency matching system is forcing them to move to a non-community property state. And the husband secretly isn't so sure any more that the marriage is forever, and throws cold water on the idea of doing a financial agreement (or more likely doesn't even have to, since probably neither of them is even aware of the different laws in the state they're heading to) -- so the wife is totally screwed, when hubby finds a cute young nurse a couple of years down the road, long after residency in the new state has been established.

This sort of thing really does happen to people, and it's high time that government be booted out of the marriage business. The traditional legal concept of marriage dates to an era when women were legally chattel, and were not able to enter into any kind of contract. That's how the government got to be a party to the marriage contract -- to protect the poor helpless females who weren't full fledged citizens. It just doesn't have any applicability to modern society.


18 posted on 09/28/2004 12:11:06 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker (Donate to the Swift Vets -- www.swiftvets.com)
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To: The Great Yazoo; All

" If it's illegal for private citizens, it ought to be illegal for the federal government."

Yes, but the government employees don't have to depend on Social Security, they have a much more lucrative disability, medical, retirement scheme. Think of it...the people who approve or refuse to approve your claim, never have to depend on that same system. That alone makes it intolerable.


Privitize SS. The recent totalization agreement with Mexico by the State Dept. and the SSA will give Social Security to ILLEGALS, who will only need 6 work credits to qualify. You and I need 40.

At least the government could put some equity in this scheme.
Don't hold your breath.


19 posted on 09/28/2004 12:21:07 PM PDT by AuntB ("Go count your blessings, and then complain to me"...MY Grandma!)
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To: Sgt_Schultze
The Republicans need to alter Social Security, but it has to be done incrementally.

Social Security is a ponzi/pyramid scheme. It's about time liberals faced up to it.

20 posted on 09/28/2004 12:22:25 PM PDT by Tamar1973 ("He who is compassionate to the cruel, ends up being cruel to the compassionate." Chazal)
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