Nearly Forty-Seven Million (47,000,000) Americans receive Social Security benefits today; and nearly 70% (33,000,000) of them depend on those benefits for 50% or more of their entire income. Without Social Security, what would these 33,000,000 people do…what would you do?

The fact is, Social Security has helped tens of millions of American workers enjoy a more comfortable retirement. It’s helped millions more workers who became disabled live with dignity. It’s helped widows/widowers survive following the loss of their beloved; and it has helped feed, clothe, educate and provide shelter for millions of young children who lost a parent.

Social Security is more…much more than just a retirement plan; it’s the foundation on which American workers base their economic future. America simply can not afford to bet its future on the rise and fall of the stock and bond markets. The last 12 years should have made that all too clear, but yet there remains those in congress who want to do just that, they want you to risk your future.

You see, those fat cats on Wall Street who donate millions of dollars to political campaigns are just itching to get their hands on your retirement. To them it’s the “mother lode,” tens of billions of dollars (new money) flowing into the markets through accounts they manage and will collect fees on.

Please, America, wake up…do not let this happen! Don’t listen to the politicians who say such accounts will give you greater control; these accounts will give you virtually no control…and much less control than you have today.

Self-directed individual accounts will not give you control. The Social Security Administration (SSA) will be the one to select what brokers will manage such accounts, not you! The SSA and the brokers will decide what type of accounts you will have access to and the fund managers will decide what stocks and bonds to buy/sell. You’ll have no right to hire/fire the managers, brokers or the people selecting them.

It is not a lack of control that is the problem today…it’s the lack of exercising control that is the problem. The reserves of Social Security belong to you, me and every other American worker – working and retired. It is congress, our elected officials that are currently charged with the investment of our savings and they have done a piss-poor job of it. You see, they haven’t been investing it, they’ve been spending it like there is no tomorrow.

But it’s not all their fault…it’s ours. We have done nothing to stop them. We have not told them what we want them to do with our money, how to invest it. So please join me and write your congressional representatives, tell them that you want them to stop spending your future and start investing it…investing it in America!

I want to use our Social Security savings to rebuild America. Rebuild our roads; bridges; power grid; water, sewage and communication systems; fund student loans and new businesses through the Small Business Administration. Invest our savings in improving the quality of life for all Americans; create the environment to attract and retain businesses and the jobs of tomorrow.

For the last 40 years America has been sending its money abroad and countries like Russia, China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and others have been using our money to rebuild their countries while ours has gone into decay. And, as those countries have developed their infrastructures, companies (most of them American) have been building new factories and service centers in those countries. They have been exporting our jobs abroad, then shipping the finished goods back to America to buy. And the irony of it all, now they want your Social Security savings so they can open new markets to sell those products because America is going broke.

I say NO! It’s time to stop…it has to stop now if America is to survive. We need to rebuild America and bring home our jobs. We need to invest in America. We can do this, we need to make Washington listen; but to do so we need voices, millions of voices. Its time for all American workers to stand together and, in one resounding voice that rattles the walls of congress, tell congress we want our Social Security savings invested in America.

Read Saving Social Security – A Commonsense Solution, join in and make your voice heard!

In my book Saving Social Security – A Commonsense Solution, I talk about my opposition to self-directed individual investment accounts within Social Security. There are many reasons I oppose this…first it can not be done without having to substantially increase employment taxes and/or reduce benefits to current and soon to be retirees. Second, it’s not the stock market that we need to be investing in, it’sAmerica!

I have a fundamental problem with the idea that the savings of American workers should be invested in the stocks and bonds of companies that have been exporting our jobs overseas in an effort to improve their bottom line at the expense of our economy. I would rather we invest inAmerica…I want to use the reserves of Social Security to rebuild the infrastructure ofAmericato improve the lives of every American and create the environment necessary to attract and retain businesses and jobs.

Investing in the stock market does not create wealth, it merely transfers wealth. What grows wealth is a vibrant, growing economy and people at work. If we undertake the rebuilding ofAmericawe can create millions of new jobs…not public servant jobs, but jobs in the private sectors. RebuildingAmericawill require manpower, equipment, materials and technology. Every facet of the American economy will benefit and prosper.

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Social Security and Medicare are government run entitlement programs. Participants contribute to these programs throughout their working careers through the payment of taxes levied on their wages in exchange for future benefits. Participants are therefore ENTITLED to benefits in exchange for consideration made.

It angers me when I hear our Congressional Representatives and Presidential Candidates refer to Social Security and Medicare as “Entitlement” programs like it’s charity. Or when they talk about reducing benefits; either by raising the age for eligibility on someone who has been contributing for years or by reducing the amount if the benefits to be paid.

In my opinion, to deny or reduce the Social Security and Medicare benefits to participants amounts to THEFT! These are social insurance programs in which Congress is charged with their management and Congress needs to be held accountable.

There are two types of public entitlement programs, those in which benefits are exchanged for considerations made (i.e. Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment, Pension Plans) and those based on economic status (i.e. Welfare, Food Stamps, Medicaid, Child Care Vouchers, etc.).

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A recent article in the Huffington Post indicated that the unemployment rate is falling, now down to 8.3 percent. This is good news…right? It is if true. However, when an unemployed worker exhausts his/her unemployment benefits they are no longer counted as unemployed. Just because they no longer draw benefits does not mean they are employed. The truth is, when it comes to unemployment numbers we don’t know what the truth is.

Unemployment is a huge problem, no question. And, any improvement in the unemployment numbers is welcomed. True or not it does have an effect on the economy…lower unemployment figures creates optimism…optimistic consumers spend more and optimistic employers employ more.

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