Dick Armey is so aggravated with us stupid Americans for liking Social Security that he sat down at his computer and wrote an op-ed trying to talk us all out of it.
Social Security already is the largest tax that most Americans pay. Studies have shown that payroll taxes would need to increase by 50% in order to temporarily save the insolvent program. But what happens when that's not enough? At what point does Social Security become generational theft?
Funny how that savings thing becomes a "tax" unless it's invested in "private" investments, eh?
Americans should ask, if Social Security is such a great program, why is it mandatory? Workers should have the choice about whether they want to remain in the current system or invest in a personal saving retirement account, which would allow them to have complete control over their retirements funds and pass the remaining balance to family members. Let's have Social Security compete against other investment options.
Because that worked so well for everyone who had 401(k) money invested in 2008, right? Imagine the disaster that would have befallen seniors all over the country when their otherwise-reliable pension payment became half of its former self.
Social Security isn't going anywhere, and if I have anything to say about it, the Social Security Retirement Age can stay right where it is. The only tweak they should make is lifting the cap on contributions. In fact, they could lift that cap and drop the rate a percentage point if they wanted. That should ensure solvency through the end of this century or so.
