Well, let me see, if you privatized it, then it would be run by companies, right? I don't know. It's hard to think about what that would mean. Would they change it? I don't think I'd like it to be changed. I like my doctor, and I wouldn't want anyone to tell me I couldn't see her anymore. And I guess if companies were in charge of the program, they would just do what was best for them. On the other hand, it would be better than no Social Security at all.
~Marla, 63, Cumberland, Md.
All I can say is where do I sign up? I'm a died-in-the-wool conservative, so I feel that the free market can always do things better than the government can. I mean, look how they've managed to bungle it up so far. They have run it right into the ground. I think I heard it's supposed to be bankrupt in six years or something. It's ridiculous! It's really just a payroll tax—they should call it what it is. So, yes, I think they should privatize it.
~ Clifford, 67, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
It's a terrible idea. Social Security is the most popular social program ever. It protects seniors from greedy health insurance companies who would drop us from the rolls just because we are older. It was created because seniors couldn't get insurance on the open market. So the thought of turning around and letting them come in now and tell us what we can and can't do…They'd only be concerned with the bottom line; that's how companies operate. It would be an absolute disaster.
~ Jean, 66, Hampton Falls, N.H.
Social Security is fine just the way it is. I can't see any reason to privatize it. The whole idea seems to come from the extremist wing of the Tea Party. Those people are nuts, in my opinion. They don't represent the vast majority of seniors, that's for sure. I have paid into Social Security my whole life. And now they want to change the rules? That's completely unfair. It's un- American. The whole thing just stinks.
~ Lou, 71, Centerville, S.D.
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