The Social Security Crisis

President Ronald Reagan once said that the best minds were not found working in government, if they were they would have already been snatched up by the private sector. This is not a direct quote, but it does sum up his sentiments. With that in mind, does it really make sense that we are letting the government plan an overhaul of Social Security? In my opinion, the program cannot be fixed in it's current state in a method that would ever be acceptable to both Republicans and Democrats alike. The only thing that can be done to add any solvency to the program in its current state involves either raising the FICA tax collected or raising the retirement age, or a combination of both. It has been said recently that for the program to remain solvent, the taxes collected would have to be raised to 30% of income or above to make the program sustainable for any length of time. The only other choice would be to raise the retirement age to around 95, therefore eliminating the need altogether for the program. The 95 year retirement age is ,of course, ridiculous, but it makes the point that without significant tax increases in the program, the only other solution would be to eventually raise the qualifying age to such a point that no one would ever qualify for it. There should be no mistake, the program is in desperate trouble. Even my 5 year old understands that if you spend all of your money on candy bars you will have no money left over for bubble gum. The problem is no more complex than that. The government has never had to worry about that because if they don't have enough money to pay for something, they just steal it. They call it taxation but it really boils down to simple theft. We would get 7-10 for the same offense, the liberals just call it progressive. Interesting how that works isn't it? The best solution to the problem would involve two simple steps. Step 1: Stop deducting FICA taxes from payroll. Step 2: Cancel the program. I can throw darts at a board and get a better return than Social Security. I know for sure that I am smart enough to invest the money myself rather than relying on government to do it. At least with President Bush's plan to let us invest a part of our Social Security in private accounts I would get a better return than the measly 2% I could expect from Social Security in its present state. By my numbers, if my payroll tax would have to be increased to 30% to get a 2% return, I would be better off taking that money and blowing it on candy bars. At least my son would be proud!