After much discussion, vast input, and a myriad of proposals, it seems to me that the Social Security system was designed for one purpose and one purpose alone. One man or woman pays in, and one man or woman collects. We have burdened this retirement system with a host of other benefits, admirable to be sure, but extremely costly and unrealistic. Forget the pie in the sky stock market pipe dream. Anyone who participates in a 401 at their place of employment, knows funding investments can go down as well as up. The stock market plan is a direct assault on social security funds with a purpose of none other than greed. If we gradually eliminate all the extra programs that are not related to the direct purpose of one man or woman paying in and one man or woman collecting, the system would be solvent and in the black. It is this sort of get tough policy that will do the job. Social Security was never designed to pay for all the other entitlement benefits that now are burdening the system. It also was not designed to be "invested" in the stock market. This latter issue is the single most important item that has drawn written protest from me. When I retire I need to have all the money that I paid in, over the years, still there for me to collect.
