To the editor:

As a senior citizen I’ve been inundated with requests from several organizations to sign their petition for a Social Security lock box bill. There are at least two: HR 219 and HR 1353. Apparently these bills would prevent Congress from using SS trust funds for other government operations including their earmarks and perks as has been happening for 40 years. (Where have these folks been all this time?) It’s almost too late. The excess SS taxes will soon disappear as the boomers retire. Then Congress must start to repay its “loans” from the SS trust fund. Wanna bet this won’t be the occasion for a tax increase of some sort? Obama has already proposed one for SS (FICA) taxes.

Another feature of HR 1353 prohibits putting SS trust funds into private investments. That leaves government bonds. After railing against “the raid,” it’s then proposed to leave the system essentially unchanged! This again leaves the fox to guard the chicken house. Private investment management could never do what political management has done to the SS trust fund. These bills are nothing more than a face-saving move by Congress.

Frank J. Male,
Eudora