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Social Security is here to stay

Although the president of the United States takes an oath to uphold the Constitution and execute the laws of the land, the de facto policy of the social engineers is to allow illegal immigration and the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs to China.

Corporate America now controls the mighty law of supply and demand for labor. This is not good for the middle class. With wages in the private sector stagnating or shrinking, there is less tax money to pay local and state public employees. The public employees are beginning to feel the pinch, but apparently don't believe they should share the pain the private sector employees are experiencing. Their solution is more tax money.

Well, a tax is a tax, whether it's an income tax, sales tax or user fees. They all come out of the same checking accounts of the families who work in the private sector. You cannot raise taxes on folks whose incomes are not keeping up with inflation.

We conservatives abhor socialism. However, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are here to stay. The personal, or private, account idea will not fix the future funding of these programs. Therefore, the Social Security tax rate should be reduced, all income (no caps) should be subject to the payroll tax and the benefits should be means-tested on a graduated scale.

Let's face it. Social Security should solely be a safety net to keep those eligible out of poverty.

LARRY SCHANZ

Springfield