I was at Marla Ruzicka’s memorial service here in San Francisco Monday nite. It was so wonderful. Hundreds of her friends, family members, political colleagues, were there to say Goodbye to this magical, progressive, caring, young woman who gave so much to all of us in such a short time she was with us. Thankfully her work in Afganistan and Iraq will live on through the organization she founded.

Rick Hauptman

Oh, gee, I’m so golly grateful that you’ve warned me of the evil dangers those dirty Republicans support. It seems to me that this entire speech is about as valid as anyone saying that welfare only helps crackheads and prostitutes. (What with three-fourths of it going to those lazy, horrible kids out there.)

http://www.willisms.com/archives/2005/04/rock_the_votes.html

Rock the knowledge, THEN the vote.

What’s the point of having that safety net, if you have to pay substantially higher taxes throughout your lifetime just to get the same benefit that people get now for substantially less taxes?

Rock the Vote is promoting a scam. A flat out scam that threatens to screw over our entire generation. Under reform, there still would be a guaranteed benefit, everything would be entirely voluntary, and YOU would decide- FOR YOURSELF- whether you want to try to increase your benefit by investing in stocks or not.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Rock the Vote is trying to play on our generation’s stupidity and ignorance, all because it wants to promote the same partisan politics that the AARP does.

I’m sure that the writers for Rock the Vote are well informed, and know full well that they’re using sources that are deliberately biased to the left. Both sources cited in this blog article use sources that are very clearly against Social Security reform on political grounds.

If you’re going to use biased sources, please point out the bias. Many people in our generation do not have the time to do this research themselves, and they’re being misled by Rock the Vote’s blind partisanship.

It is very true that Social Security is 100% funded for the next 40 years or so- if you take into account the Social Security trust fund bonds, which are NOT paid for currently. Paying for these bonds will require government revenue, which requires either tax increases, deficit increases, or benefit cuts for Social Security.

This is why personal retirement accounts are so important. By raising the rate of return, the system will have to pay out less money, thus not demanding so much money from the trust fund. Rock the Vote is passing a deliberate partisan myth that stands to increase taxes substantially for our generation- all so they can receive the same amount of benefits that people receive now.

That, my friends, is not fair. Rock the Vote, you have sold us out, and it is incredible that you people actually engage in this blindly partisan stance.

Perhaps, there are better ways to use the 12% that gets taken out of every paycheck, than having a bureaucratic robin hood take from the ‘rich’ and distribute to the ‘poor’.

Your post reminds me that the Social Security debate really is about whether we want a program that reduces poverty. Maybe you don’t want to end poverty for anyone but yourself. I do, and that’s why I Love Social Security.

The government is attempting to manage my money for me. Why? Is that the role of government? Maybe I want to help the elderly, or the poor – maybe not. However, it should be my choice.

Also, why is RTV taking a partisan stance? Is the purpose of RTV to get young people to vote, or to push specific agendas?

“here’s just one thing to think about: Will we have a Guaranteed retirement benefit? Will our parents have a Guaranteed benefit? It all comes down to that basic idea: A guaranteed benefit for all of us. Social Security is the foundation of our financial security. It isn’t how we make a million, it is the foundation of our security. Win or lose, we have a check coming to us that will keep us out of poverty when we can no longer work.”

Rarely do you see the core ideas of Social Security articulated so directly.

I couldn’t agree more.

The fundamental question we are dealing with is, how much of a guarantee should we have?

Those of us who believe in Social Security say that America needs a baseline, a safeguard, something that provides a floor you can’t fall through. And its not a welfare level benefit—its something that can keep the middle class secure while lifting up the poor.

That gaurantee should be about what it is today—Social Security—not less.

Private investing is good. Its necessary. But Social Security is different and it must survive!

Viva Social Security!
We Love Social Security!