Written by: US Representative Mark Stanford
The debate about whether or not to reform Social Security, while very slow getting started, has finally boiled down to the central question not of whether private markets will be used in fixing Social Security, but who should be in control of investment in those markets, you or the government.
Government-controlled, collective investment of Social Security funds would be a mistake. Its what President Clinton proposed in his reform plan, and what Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan thinks would be unwise. I happen to agree with Greenspan, and Im not alone. The Senate voted 99-0 in April for the Ashcroft Amendment that would prohibit government investment of Social Security in the markets. To really reform Social Security, we need to get the money that Americans are relying on for retirement out of Washington. I have three main concerns with Washington investing the money.