| In his State of the Union Speech, our president said | | | | If it is privatized, at least 10 percent of everyone's |
| entitlements, including social security, disability and | | | | check will go toward 'administration fees' of the |
| Medicare need to be fixed because the fund is | | | | company receiving the money to invest. Then deduct |
| depleted. | | | | the broker's fee also. |
| According to the May 2007 report of the United | | | | People receiving Social Security do not need a 'middle |
| States Treasury Office of Economic Policy, Social | | | | man' to handle their money and charge a fee for doing |
| Security and Disability funds available at the end of | | | | so. |
| 2006 were Seven Hundred Forty-Five Billion Dollars. | | | | Payments into the Social Security, or the Entitlement |
| This is far from being depleted as the president | | | | Fund, are not to be co-mingled with taxes collected. |
| warned of. All the dire predictions we hear are | | | | These payments are put into a special 'fund'. |
| because of Hospitalization costs are rising | | | | Therefore, the government should not be able to use |
| exponentially. It is not Social Security or Disability that is | | | | this money for anything else. A few years ago, the |
| in trouble, as the president alluded to, but medical costs. | | | | government started taking money out of the |
| All numbers quoted are directly from government | | | | Entitlement Fund and giving IOU's. |
| reports, see below. | | | | Over the next ten years Social Security and Disability |
| One hundred sixty-two million people contributed to the | | | | fund assets are expected to double - after 2017 the |
| entitlement fund in 2006, not one hundred twelve million | | | | treasury will start to pay back what the government |
| as the president said. Perhaps he erroneously | | | | 'borrowed' from the entitlement fund - this should keep |
| deducted the 50 million that are receiving benefits. | | | | the fund solvent for about twenty-three years or |
| Thirty-four million are retirees who paid into the fund, | | | | through the year 2041. My calculator does not have |
| seven million are minor dependents of people that died, | | | | enough places on it to figure out what 23 times 745 |
| nine million are people on disability who had also | | | | billion dollars come to, but apparently that is how much |
| contributed to the fund. | | | | the government raided the entitlement fund for. A |
| Our president said that Social Security should be | | | | quick guess would be almost 20 trillion dollars. |
| privatized. This means every recipient entitled to | | | | The warning of the entitlement fund being depleted, |
| receiving Social Security, or Social Security Disability, | | | | and the suggestion of privatizing reminds me of a |
| will have to give part of their payment to a broker to | | | | public service commercial on television. It reminds me |
| invest for them. This is a win win situation for Wall | | | | of - 'we are the good telemarketers and senior |
| street and the stock market, but a Lose Lose situation | | | | citizens have had their identity long enough'. Now |
| for Social Security recipients as the majority of them | | | | replace 'identity' with social security checks. |
| live from social security check to social security check. | | | | |