Social Security Piratization

Workers now in their 40s would suffer the deepest cuts in guaranteed retirement benefits payable under current law. At the same time, they have the least chance to recoup reductions by investing in stocks and bonds.

Jim Barnett, "Privatization Plan Likely Would Hurt Workers Now in Their 40s," NewHouse News Service, 1 March 2005.

Hats off to the 18 1/2 Minute Gap


We post-baby boomers have been taking it on the chin paying higher payroll taxes for over 20 years. We were told back then that our contribution would fix Social Security for future generations.

Meanwhile, the baby boom generation, and the people their voting power put into office, kept consuming government services, spending irresponsibly, and swallowing up the surplus in a wash of government debt.

We had a chance to fix the problem, thanks to the fiscal discipline of Bill Clinton and a booming economy that generated trillions in projected surpluses, but Bush spent the surplus, and more, on tax cuts he gave to his rich friends, and on an unnecessary invasion of Iraq.

Now Bush tells us the best deal we can get is to forget about what we've contributed to Social Security, and hope that private accounts will save the day. Meanwhile, he plans to dig us into a fiscal hole all the way to China (not just a figure of speech--80 percent of US Treasury Bonds are held by China and Japan). So we'll have to pay off the debt mess as well.

By the time we retire, we'll have paid for our retirements three times over.