Social Security + Private Retirement Accounts + Bear Stearns + Mumbo Jumbo + Jibber Jabber + Politalk (or Politispeak) = An Impending Screwjob !

After the news of Bear Stearns fall this past week it brought to mind the recent push by the President for private Social Security/Retirement accounts. I am far from a financial guy, probably as far as one can get and maybe that's good for a change. As hard as I try I can't seem to grow wings on this Do Do bird of a concept. Mr. Bush in one of his explanations put it this way one evening on television, I believe he said, (use a drawl when reading this) here's how government economics works-the money comes in and the money goes out, where we need it. Having been a viewer on the evening the President made this statement I decided to read some of the Social Security Act myself. Now, I am also not a lawyer and don't play one on stage or screen, so I read parts of the Act and think I have a basic understanding of what they set out to accomplish in 1935. Social Security was set up as a separate account to be contributed into by working Americans who would in turn be paid monthly by the government, after their 65th birthday, and the amount would be determined by how much they made and paid into their Social Security account. There was something about the money being in interest bearing accounts, probably something safe like savings bonds. Simple and to the point. I did not however, see anything that said the government can take the money as it comes in and spend it as it sees fit and there was also, nothing in the Act that said the government could or would come back later and tell the American people that the system was broke and that it was essentially their (the American people's) fault. Then try to shove an idea, that had not been fully thought through, up the collective rear ends of working Americans by a guy who would never have to rely on Social Security as even a small part of his retirement income, this also, applies to any in Congress or the Senate that backed him up on this one as they get a nice fat retirement package from the government that far exceeds Social Security for far less work than even the laziest of American workers. These by the way are the same legislators who would like to extend Social Security benefits, to illegal aliens and other miscreants who don't qualify for participation in the program to begin with. Which gets me back to how I started thinking about this again to begin with. The great and venerable Bear Stearns, who by the way, you could have an IRA or 401 with until this last week tanked. This would indicate to me that they had less than perceptive managers in their employ which means their 401's and IRA's more than likely took severe beatings or tanked just like the company, they probably did not misuse the actual funds, only mismanaged what they had. So, if the majority of Americans, as the President suggested, had their hard earned pretax dollars with the likes of the great and venerable Bear Stearns what would the outcome have been had say Joe Blaphus (average citizen) been ready to retire today, I think he (Joe Blaphus) would be screwed. He could write the President and tell him what a bad idea this was and beg to bring back Social Security as it was originally laid out only to get a response back about the large volume of email that comes into the White House on a myriad of subjects, that they appreciate hearing from each and every American, but don't expect a response because they are all hiding in a soundproof bunker somewhere working on the next scam. Sometime in the future this concept may be able to be revived , refined to protect the American worker and be really meaningful. But in the current climate of Political corruption and corporate greed it would only result in a no win for those who need the assistance it later on.