RE: When Are We Going To Discuss Social Security?????

[Javier Jimenez <jimenj@yahoo.com>]

>>>>>> William D. Grazier wrote:
Therefore, our Social Security funds are
already invested in the safest, most productive institution
available called the Gross National Product (GNP).  My question
is:  WHO CAN YOU DENY AS CONTRIBUTOR TO AND OWNER OF THIS FUND?
<<<<<<
Invested not! Spent Yes!  To recover that money, the fed will have to tax our income again to pay us back our contributions and whatever return from that "investmet" that the SS formulas decide.
To your final question, anybody can be denied access:
   The assurance that workers will receive
   benefits when they retire does not depend on
   the particular tax used to finance the benefits
   or on any "trust fund." It depends solely on the
   expectation that future Congresses will honor
   promise made by earlier Congresses—what
   supporters call "a compact between the generations"
   and opponents call a Ponzi scheme.
>From Speaking the Truth About Social Security by Milton Friedman, available at http://www.socialsecurity.org/pubs/articles/bp-046es.html.
   By comparison, relying on the current Social Security system is
   extremely risky. Because Social Security is at its core a political
   system, future benefits are dependent on political decisions. Indeed, the
   Supreme Court has ruled, in the case of Nestor v. Fleming that individuals
   have no right to Social Security benefits based on the taxes they've paid.
   Congress and the president can change or reduce Social Security
   benefits any time they choose. A young worker entering the Social
   Security system is gambling on what benefits a Congress and president
   will decide to provide 45 years from now. 
>From Where is the Real Risk in Retirement? by Michael Tanner, available @ http://www.socialsecurity.org/pubs/articles/mt-02-12-97.html.