Social Security is in the news, again!

This Yahoo! News repost from Reuters talks about how Colorado Representative John Salazar (D) and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi want to keep Republicans from making Social Security a non-government funded retirement system for aging Americans. See, that's how this works, people. You take government money out of the system by making people pay for themselves instead of others. That way, if you don't work, you don't get the cash to retire. That is the only real reason Democrats have to oppose the proposed private retirement accounts. Democrats don't want people to be responsible for themselves, and they are very pessimistic. "There's no guarantee you'll always have a job..." and other such drivel can always be heard from their side of the aisle. Under the proposed new system if you don't work you don't have money when it's time to retire. If you do work there's income available for you, and much more than what you put in, too, since it will grow at a faster pace than inflation. I should know. What Bush is saying we should do is modeled after the Thrift Savings Plan investment system set up for government employees. I've been in the TSP since they started allowing military members to put away their own money, and let me tell you, I've made a bundle more than inflation. Inflation right now is around 3%. I've been making 8.5% on average since I invested four years ago. My contributions are taken from my pay check before taxes as one would expect from a 401k type retirement fund, and I'll have access to that money in a number of forms come retirement age. The government doesn't have an obligation for my earnings because my money is MINE!!! If Social Security was modeled in this way it would take government expenditure out of the system all together and make people responsible for their own livelyhood, instead of having everyone else's taxpayer dollars go to pay for everyone else. I for one think paying my own way, and ONLY my own way should be the way to go!