I think Bush is concentrating too much on the Iraqi people and not on us. Our systems are failing and he doesn't have real plans to fix them? Social security is a great system that gives money to people who have retired every month depending on what they paid in SS. I can see that in the future this system will probably no longer exist leaving us to pay for the seniors and we getting nothing. I hope someone will fix this system.

Wouldn't you rather not pay any social security and be able to spend your own money however you choose to do so?

Then what do you do with all the 65 year olds that did just that... spent the money and now have nothing.

Social security might need to be fixed but I don't think it can just go away.

I was talking about eliminating social security as something we would have to pay for... Instead of spending that money invest it in whatever way you see fit.

Lets say you invest lets say 10,000/yr into mutual funds, IRA's, etc., instead of social security.

Over 20 years that money will have grown dramatically! And years and years after that it will have grown even more. It is the smartest way to save up for retirement. The problem is a lot of people don't know about investing or just spend there income...Privatizing part of there income into these investments and giving them control of there money upon retirement is the way the system should be.

Plus with the money invested would be a huge boost to the US Economy.

Hope this example helps...I am going to be a network admin so this is probably what I am looking at:

A good network admin/programmer would make roughly 70K/yr.

12.4% of that number is $8,680/yr for SS.

Now lets say I work 50 years, ignoring inflation and a raised income...that’s $434,000 in social security. With the system corrupt as it is today, I will never see a portion of that money. Even if the system did work, I would never see anything close to what I paid in FICA.

If instead that money is put into private accounts, IRA's, Mutual Funds, stocks, etc...That number would grow dramatically every year depending on the risks I take. If I am young I would probably take a higher risk but when I am older saving for retirement, I would just let the money grow over time. Investing 12.4% of my income every year I work for the rest of my life..I could expect millions in returns when I retire easily(if I start in the early 20's). Also god forbid if something happened to me, the money in the private accounts does not go to the government like SS, it goes to my family. Also, my income is taxed after the money removed for investments which adds up in the long run.

I don't see anything wrong with Bush's plan to privatize accounts. I have no idea why Democrats seem to think his plan is fatal. Maybe that’s because they think social security is their system and it is an insult to rid of it.

Get the senators in the blue states to understand the problems. Sign a petition by clicking this link: http://www.gop.com/GOPAgenda/AgendaPage.aspx?id=7

Yeah I agree, even if you put money you would have spend on SS into a bank account and let it grow over the yrs it would be far more valuable than the current system.. One of the main points the democrats disagree to this is because they are running out of points to take a stand out of and are in drastic need to attack Bush for some of his policies, whether they are right or wrong.

That percentage seemed way to high..I checked online and noticed this article:

http://www.socialsecurity.org/pubs/ssps/ssp-32es.html

I did some more research and noticed that if you earn I think over 73,000 a year, you have to pay close to 12% for social security. I see your argument though. I would change your income to that bracket where you pay 12% so it looks better.

Thought I would let you know...

HAHA. Actually had someone at work mention this to me as well. I read up on that link you posted which was a very good web site.

First off it says That is half... 2x6.2=12.4%

You are right to say that only 6.2% is used for social security. But a total of 12.4% is taken out of your income...half from you/half from employer(which is part of your pay).

Do you get it???

This is how corrupt the system is:

http://www.socialsecurity.org/quickfacts/index.html#10