Statist Problems
"I believe the best way to achieve this goal is to give younger workers the option, the opportunity if they so choose, of putting a portion of their payroll taxes into a voluntary personal retirement account."
- George Bush, April 28, 2005 Press Conference

Well, duh.

You see, Mr. Republican Statist...the market provides this option to "younger workers" now (see my "Take charge of your financial future" section on the right side of this page).

• Social Security's Decline Moves Closer
  - Allan Sloan, May 9, 2006 [Washington Post]

• Something For Nothing: Social Security
  - Thomas Sowell, March 1, 2006 [Capitalism Magazine]

• Insecurity Statement
  Social Security statements are a velvet-gloved method of delivering the truth the politicians can’t stomach to say out loud. - Tamara Wilhite, August 10, 2005 [Strike the Root]

• Personal Retirement Accounts: How Not to End Social Security
  - Robert Parker, August 10, 2005 [FEE]

• Bush-Style Privatization: More and More Problems
  - Robert Murphy, June 12, 2005 [Mises]

• Social Security and the Destruction of Capital
  - Antony Mueller, June 1, 2005 [Mises]

• The Fiction of Social Security Bonds
  - Charles E. Rounds, Jr., May 30, 2005 [Mises]

• Social Security Demeans Workers
  - Sheldon Richman, May 13, 2005 [The Future of Freedom Foundation]

• Bush's Impossible Social Security Plan
  - Robert Murphy, May 12, 2005 [Mises]

• “We” Paid for Our Social Security, Didn’t We?
  - Gary M. Galles, May 6, 2005 [FEE]

• Social Security: There is No Trust Fund, Only IOU's
  - Don Luskin, April 11, 2005 [Capitalism Magazine]

• The Failed Compromise
  - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., March 16, 2005 [LewRockwell.com]

• More Social Security Deceit
  What moral principle, consistent with liberty, justifies forcing a person to set aside a certain portion of his weekly earnings for retirement and jailing him if he fails to comply? - Walter Williams, March 9, 2005 [Capitalism Magazine]

• Robbing Peter to Pay Peter
  - Christopher Westley, January 26, 2005 [Mises]

• Why Trust in Social Security?
  - Jacob G. Hornberger, January 4, 2005 [LewRockwell.com]

• Save or Else
  - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., December 8, 2004 [Mises]

• Distractions in the Social Security Debate
  - Hans F. Sennholz, December 8, 2004 [Mises]

• Social Security: House of Cards
  - Rep. Ron Paul, MD, November 9, 2004 [LewRockwell.com]

• Social Security: Mythmaking and Policymaking
  - John Attarian, December 2003 [FEE]

• The Great Global Social Security Giveaway?
  In December, the press reported on a looming deal between the Administration and the government of Mexico which would make hundreds of thousands of Mexican citizens eligible for U.S. Social Security benefits. - Rep. Ron Paul, MD, January 9, 2003 [LewRockwell.com]

• Disinformation Versus Social Security Reform
  Plenty of interesting plans are circulating for reforming Social Security. But until Americans’ minds are cleared of the disinformation illustrated by this mailing, Social Security reform isn’t going to go anywhere. - John Attarian, September 26, 2002 [LewRockwell.com]

• The Revolution of 1935
  This article is excerpted from Gregory Bresiger’s large monograph, The Revolution of 1935: The Secret History of Social Security, published in the Mises Institute series Essays in Political Economy. - posted July 10, 2002 [Mises]

• Social Security: The Enron That Politicians Have In the Closet
  Social Security is a much bigger operation than Enron and even more people are depending on it for their retirement money. How much they will be cheated out of depends on how artfully future politicians can manage it. - Thomas Sowell, March 23, 2002 [Capitalism Magazine]

• "Fixing" Social Security
  As Congress debates "fixing" the Ponzi scheme we call Social Security, consider a few things. - Larry Elder, August 14, 2001 [Capitalism Magazine]

• Where's the Real Risk?
  What the Experts Say About the Social Security Trust Fund - April 2, 2001 [CATO]

• Disparate Impact: Social Security and African Americans
  Because Social Security taxes squeeze out other forms of saving and investment, especially for low-income workers, many African Americans are unable to accumulate real wealth. And, since Social Security benefits are not inheritable, that wealth inequity is compounded from generation to generation." - Michael Tanner, February 5, 2001 [CATO]

• The Social Security Scam
  - Ryan McMaken, December 20, 2000 [LewRockwell.com]

• Social Security Lies
  Americans were led to believe Social Security was like a retirement account and money placed in it was our property. President Clinton, Vice President Gore and their sycophants want you to continue to believe that. The fact of the matter is you have no property right whatsoever to your Social Security 'contributions.' - Walter Williams, November 6, 2000 [Capitalism Magazine]

• Fact Slays Theory: Social Security Seers Ignore Past And Distort Future
  Nineteenth-century biologist T. H. Huxley declared, "The great tragedy of science is the slaying of a beautiful theory by an ugly fact." History confronts Social Security opponents of personal retirement accounts with particularly unattractive facts. It is ironic that these critics badger reformers to predict stock returns in the future, when their own theory couldn't even have predicted them in the past. - Andrew G. Biggs, July 24, 2000 [CATO]

• Newsweek busts Social Security myths
  Newsweek's Social Security Crack Up is a package that smartly cuts through what writer Allan Sloan calls the 'miasma of myths, misinformation and mystery' of Social Security, the reform of which promises to be a major campaign issue in the fall. - Bill Steigerwald, June 30, 2000 [WorldNetDaily]

• Bush's Social Security Sham
  - Sheldon Richman, June 2000 [The Future of Freedom Foundation]

• The Myth of the Social Security “Trust Fund”
  - John Attarian, March 2000 [FEE]

• The false security of Social Security
  - Alan Keyes, October 15, 1999 [WorldNetDaily]

• (Not) Everything you ever wanted to know about SSNs
  Last week's column [see below] about babies without Social Security numbers drew a ton of mail...This week I want to deal with some of their objections. - Claire Wolfe, August 19, 1999 [WorldNetDaily]

• Keeping the baby un-numbered
  Little Citizen 577-00-666X came into the world today.
  Properly numbered, per international dictate, she joined billions of other precious humano-numeric global resources." - Claire Wolfe, August 12, 1999 [WorldNetDaily]

• It's Not Your Money: Americans Have no Right to Social Security Benefits
  "Americans actually have no property rights to their Social Security 'contributions.' Unlike private pension funds, which actually belong to workers, Americans have no legal claim on the money Uncle Sam theoretically salts away for their golden years. This startling news broke 39 years ago in the case of Fleming v. Nestor. Bulgarian immigrant Ephram Nestor was deported in 1956 for being a Communist in the 1930s. After Congress prohibited Social Security benefits for deportees in 1954, Nestor sued. He claimed title to his FICA tax payments between 1936 and 1955. The Supreme Court disagreed. As it ruled, 'To engraft upon the Social Security system a concept of 'accrued property rights' would deprive it of the flexibility and boldness in adjustment to ever-changing conditions which it demands.' - Deroy Murdock, June 22, 1999 [CATO]

• Social Security in crisis
  - David Limbaugh, March 2, 1999 [WorldNetDaily]
  
  
• I'll Never Retire
  Before the mid 1950s, there was no 'retirement' as we use the term today. A 1950 poll showed most workers aspired to work for as long as possible. Quitting was for the disabled. Life did not offer 'twilight years,' two decades of uninterrupted leisure courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer. - William Diehl, February 1997 [Mises]

• The Immorality of Social Security
  In truth Social Security's immorality is as monumental as its actuarial deficit. - John Attarian, January 1995 [FEE]

• FDR's Chain Letter
  As political scams go, it's hard to top Social Security. It has imposed a prosperity-crushing tax bite on everyone, promoted financial irresponsibility in the middle class, and torn apart the generations. It has lessened the respect any civilized society should have for its elders, even turning some of them into greedy lobbyists. And it has expanded government's reach beyond what any free society should tolerate. The program doesn't even provide security." - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., January 1995 [Mises]

• The Coming Financial Collapse of Social Security
  The program’s payroll taxes are now so high that even if all the promised benefits are somehow paid, these benefits would still represent low, below-market returns, on the thousands of dollars today’s young workers must pay into the system each year for their entire careers. - Peter J. Ferrara, November 1993 [FEE]

Libertarian Solutions

• End It; Don't Mend It
  - Michael Tennant, May 17, 2005 [Strike-the-Root]

• Privacy and Freedom Cost $100
  - Joe Blow, October 24, 2004 [Strike-the-Root]

• How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
  This is the story of how I successfully refused to accept a Social Security Number for my child. - Scarmig, December 12, 2003 [Strike-the-Root]

• Stop Identity Theft – Make Social Security Numbers Confidential
  I once again call on my colleagues to join me in putting an end to the federal government's unconstitutional use of national identifiers to monitor the actions of private citizens. - Rep. Ron Paul, MD, January 7, 2003 [LewRockwell.com]

• The Bear Market Makes the Case for Privatizing Social Security
  The market is in another slump, and investors' savings have once again shrunk. So now is the perfect time to make the case for privatizing Social Security. - Robert W. Tracinski, October 2, 2002 [Capitalism Magazine]

• Caring About Future Generations
  It's easy for people to feign concern for future generations and at the same time rip them off. Why? Future generations have no representation in Congress, and today's young people who'll face the 2030s Social Security disaster have very little. It's a matter of political expediency. - Walter Williams, May 30, 2002 [Capitalism Magazine]

• Common Man's "Ignorance" No Obstacle to Social Security Reform
  If trusting people and expanding opportunities for all Americans are important to President Bush, he should move ahead with his plans to allow all American workers to invest part of their payroll taxes in financial markets. If given that choice, American workers, like their Chilean counterparts, will know what is best for them." - L. Jacobo Rodríguez, January 6, 2001 [CATO]

• The Amish Against The Feds
  Thanks to principled elders, self-employed Amish people don't pay Social Security taxes. - Michelle Malkin, December 6, 2000 [Capitalism Magazine]

• The Truth About Social Security
  Americans, it would seem, have far more attachment to the Social Security system than they have knowledge of it. Social Security can be saved only by being privatized and converted into a real pension system with individually owned accounts invested in real assets." - Paul Craig Roberts, November 6, 2000 [Capitalism Magazine]

• Reform Social Security ... or Repeal It?
  - Jacob G. Hornberger, July 2000 [The Future of Freedom Foundation]

• A Moral Approach To Solving The "Social Security" Problem
  proper solution to the Social Security system requires a fundamental change of thinking, a recognition that not only are the elderly entitled to the money they earn, but that every individual is entitled to the wealth he creates. - Andrew Lewis, March 23, 2000 [Capitalism Magazine]

• End the Fraudulent Social Security Program Now
  - Jack Letourneau, April 14, 1999 [Capitalism Magazine]

• Time to Privatize Social Security [CATO]
  The global social security crisis is creating the opportunity for a fundamental paradigm shift regarding the role of government in modern societies. Thomas Jefferson once predicted that 'the ball of freedom, once set in motion, will roll around the world.' Transforming Social Security in this way can be a massive blow against the economic drag of the welfare state that has characterized the 20th-century and stifled the creative spirit of mankind for too long." - José Piñera, April 10, 1998 [CATO]

• Why Not Simply Repeal Social Security?
  - Jacob G. Hornberger, September 1998 [The Future of Freedom Foundation]

• Case Studies: Government Employees have Private Options
  For a decade, some federal civil servants have had the option of putting part of their pay into a savings plan that, like private-sector 401 (k) plans, has an option to make tax-deferred investments in the stock market. - E. J. Myers, January 16, 1997 [NCPA]

• Empowering Workers: The Privatization of Social Security in Chile
  The ultimate lesson is that the only revolutions that are successful are those that trust the individual, and the wonders that individuals can do when they are free. - January 17, 1996 [CATO]

• The Advantages of Social Security Privatization [Employment Policy Foundation]
  "The ongoing debate over Social Security reform has generated considerable interest in 'privatizing' some, or all, of the program."

• Even a Bad Investor Can Beat Social Security [Larry Elder]
  I had a discussion with a friend about the recent proposals to allow individuals to divert part of their Social Security taxes into private investments. 'The problem is that most people, Including me, don't know much about financial planning,' said my friend, echoing one of the oft-heard arguments against privatization. 'Social Security isn't great, but at least I'm better off with it than I'd be if I made stupid investments and lost my money.' My friend's comment prompted me to do some back-of-the-envelope calculations to see just how bad an Investor you can be and still beat Social Security. (article by Christine Murphy as featured in The Los Angeles Times)

• African Americans and Social Security Privatization
  For more than Four decades, payroll taxes have increased 17 times forcing Americans across the country to invest in a system which provides very little, if any return. The current Social Security system does not provide Americans with secured income during their retirement years. Social Security has been proven to be a worst investment for African Americans and the poor. Despite studies showing a negative rate of return for African Americans, many traditional civil rights organizations support America’s current Social Security system and the failures it has reaped among African Americans. - [CURE]

• How personalizing Social Security prevents the government hijacking of the poor
  - [CURE]
  
  
• What is a Social Security Number?
  Is it really a mandatory program? - Brad Barnhill

My Thoughts

• I believe that we all have a right to decide how to best spend our own money. Why should we be forced to give money to a failed Social Security system that is nothing more than a Ponzi scheme?
  
  
• The Social Security tax continues to rise (7.65% as of 05/25/00 (plus the 7.65% matched by your employer - you pay the entire 15.30% if you are motivated enough to be self-employed)) as the retiree population grows and grows.
  
  
• During a 02/14/00 Today Show interview, Paul Barnes (Deputy Commissioner of the SSA) said that the average Social Security benefit is $800 a month. Don't our elderly deserve better than that? Don't we want to be sure that we have more than $12,000/year to live on...if Social Security lasts that long?
  
  
• As determined in Fleming v. Nestor, Americans have no "right" to the money they have put into the federal Social Security system. If someone dies, they cannot pass on the money accrued to their heirs. Since the average poor person dies sooner than the average "wealthy" person, how could poor families ever hope to accumulate wealth?