Great work guys! I'm glad to be a chapter chair and finally part of the machinery. I hope that all is well in DC and keep kicking but for us!

Considering the fact the Crock the Vote made CQ, it just goes to show that you don't even have to have ideas, let alone good ones in order to be mentioned in CQ.

SS Equity Funds Equal More Big Government and Corruption! S4 Sucks It and Gives Change!

It's sad that so much enthusiasm and youthful energy is being wasted on a lie.

Conservatives have opposed the concept of our federal government playing any role in providing economic security for seniors since the very beginning. Their argument for changing Social Security as we know it goes something like this…”The promise of a secure retirement is a ‘hoax’”. Taxes paid by workers will be “wasted” by the government rather than prudently invested. And the “so-called reserve fund…is no reserve at all” because it contains nothing but government IOU’s. Sounds familiar right? These aren't words created by a "new generation" of activists or even our President. These words were spoken by Republican presidential candidate Alf Landon before the first Social Security check was even issued and ultimately became part of the GOP platform in 1936.

It's no doubt so many young people don't have faith in Social Security...conservatives have been spent 50 years telling us it "won't be there". Well, it is...so why not spend the same amount of energy and dollars retooling the program rather than destroying it. If the Medicare privatization(Part D) is any example of how they think SS should work then we're really in trouble.

Kim,

I find it difficult to respond to your post because you fail to include any facts to back up your assertions. However, I will do the best I can.

First, conservatives are not against _any_ government involvement in providing retirement security -- we are just against the way it is done currently.

Second, the promise of a secure retirement from Social Security _is_ a hoax. According to the Social Security Trustees, the guys who should know, SS will begin running a deficit in about 12 short years. Furthermore they say that it will only be able to pay about 70% of promised benefits by mid-century. In what way does this suggest that our retirement is secure?

Third, the trust fund _doesn't_ contain any money. It contains treasury bonds. I challenge you to find me one person who will argue that treasury bonds = real money.

"It's no doubt so many young people don't have faith in Social Security...conservatives have been spent 50 years telling us it "won't be there". Well, it is."

No ma'am, it isn't. By current estimates, the system cannot pay my benefits (I am 24).

"Well, it is...so why not spend the same amount of energy and dollars retooling the program rather than destroying it."

That is what we are doing. We are trying to move the system from a pay-as-you go system to a save-as-you-go system. If what you mean by "retooling" is raising taxes and lowering benefits, that has been done already (over 20 times) and the system still has problems.

Lastly, for most conservatives (and libertarians) dislike the Medicare Part D benefit. Why? Because it amounts to a government handout (just like Social Security). If you feel so strongly that Part D is bad, then you should be _in favor_ of SS reform. PRAs are so completely different from Part D that I don't know where to begin.

Jeremy is correct.

I'd also like to add that getting a long-term rate of return of 1.76% is pathetic.