James Roosevelt

It has to have a payroll tax that’s dedicated to Social Security. The Social Security tax has been very successful over the years in raising almost all of our elderly citizens out of poverty.

Its success lies in the fact that it’s an insurance plan, not an investment plan or a welfare plan.

Even the Congressional Budget Office and the Social Security trustees appointed by the president say that Social Security is financially sound, without any changes for the next 40 to 50 years.

Social Security should have a self-sustaining portion that was funded by contributions from both employers and employees. That’s what we know and have known for 70 successful years.

Small changes done now would preserve Social Security at full benefit.

It is really quite amazing that all of the folks supporting privatization, from the president on down, keep invoking the name of my grandfather, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.