SOCIAL SECURITY IS AN INSURANCE PROGRAM, NOT AN INVESTMENT PROGRAM

Like Uggabugga, I really like this message board post. It makes a critically important point that is completely overlooked in the lazy mainstream media, and deliberately so by the administration:

Social Security is an insurance program. Funded by wage earners and self employed, and set up after the great depression to protect and benefit workers. Like any other insurance program, workers pay in and expect benefits. And like any insurance program, not all participants get back what they contribute.

Social Security is not an investment program or a savings program. In 1983 the Reagan commission concluded that a sharp increase in payroll taxes was needed to fund the SS fund to at least 2018, and the excess funds generated by these increased taxes on workers was invested in US bonds. Everyone realized that these bonds would earn interest and would be paid back by the US govt with income tax revenue, which is mostly generated by the upper class wealthy. So, workers beefed up SS and the wealthy now don't like the idea of having to start paying up after 2018 to repay the SS purchased bonds. Bush doesn't care about the middle class and SS recipients welfare. What does concern him is the welfare of his "base" the rich and super rich. So, he blurs the distinction between SS funds and US income tax funds, and he confuses the purpose of SS as an insurance program with his proposals to help "the common man" keep his hard earned money and control his "investment." This president is really being dishonest, and he is misleading our country for the benefit of the upper class wealthy, just like he did with his tax cuts.