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President Bush proposes to divert Social Security taxes into private investment accounts. This is a first step towards changing Social Security from a defined-benefit retirement program into a defined-contribution program. Ask anyone who has a defined-contribution retirement plan: The President's proposal will remove security from Social Security.
I sent letters similar to the following to the two senators from my state, to my Representative in Congress, and to any other member of Congress — House or Senate — whose public comments on Social Security have been reported in the news.
23 January 2005
Senator John McCain
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Senator McCain:
President Bush's plan to "reform" Social Security perpetuates the myth that, for retirement, we lack individual accounts invested in stocks and bonds. The President ignores the existence of IRAs, 401(k) plans, and other tax-sheltered retirement investment plans.
Before any action on the President's proposal, two important questions need to be answered:
I can agree with the President only that a reform of Social Security is necessary. More is required than the mere tweaks proposed by the Democrats. However, I cannot agree with plans that would change Social Security from a defined-benefit plan into a defined-contribution plan, even if that would happen only partially.
The only ones who consistently profit from investments in the stock market are the brokers who charge commissions on each purchase and sale. The rest of us have seen the stock market (measured by the S&P 500) decline more than 12% between President Bush's first inauguration and his second.
Please see my <http://www.rossde.com/SocSec/index.html> on the Web for an alternative reform.
Sincerely,
David E. Ross
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