Welcome the New Titan

Department-store landmarks give way in big merger | csmonitor.com

Goodnight Meier. Goodnight Frank.

Welcome to the marketplace. The corporate marketplace. Maybe I'll own them with my social security.

SBC deserves some recognition here, too. The only Bell left comes back to rule the market again.

But now the rat needs to sit back down on the Social Security issue. For all the feces flying at us from the White House, it gets more difficult for the Loyal Opposition to shield us from the will of the Insane Ruler. Whilst the Congress gathers support for keeping the working system, the Insane Ruler and his machine keep churning out their radical agenda like there's no tomorrow.

Make sure your Congressional Representative knows that we want the Social Security issue laid to rest. Personally, that's an issue all reasonable people can agree can wait four years. The system has no point of failure. A small tuneup will keep it purring for generations to come, just as it was intended.

The collapse of the 'free market' gave us the need for the system. If your family has never relied on the system in an fashion whatsoever, then you are part of the problem, so stay out of it and keep your grubby fingers off my Social Security. No one will be better off, ever, under any of the changes Bush proposes.

Social Security's equity has been loaned to the government, which we are monetarily liable for. There are not two ways around that debt. Maybe conservatives need to realize that we cannot pay for all of their dreams of war and corporate welfare. Curtailing the frivolous spending of the Bush Administration is the only way out of this problem.

For those of us who listen to NPR, it is no secret that the taxpayers already underwrite the pensions of global titans. Many of these titans have lately collapsed as complete frauds. Now the pension insurance fund is facing the very real prospect of collapsing. This will leave us another cleanup bill on the order of the savings and loans bailout of the 1980's.

That is the precise reason that, as proven for over sixty years, the government can handle the job of managing the social security system. Our government might not be perfect, but social security works properly for those who need it. We employ actuaries to keep an eye on things and propose adjustments that will ensure the long term stability of the fund. A task of such magnitude cannot be trusted to the Insane Ruler and his Legion of Doom.

Safety net theory does not work if you remove the safety net. Depression theory works well when there is no safety net. Facing the consequences of the market collapse, FDR made some radical changes to our government which have resulted in a high ratio of prosperous decades for our Nation.

Less than a quarter century from now, we will mark the centennial of the market crash. If we cannot remember a lesson that big for one hundred years, how do we ever expect to survive the next 25?

Our two hundred and thirty year old Nation has evolved in fits and starts over the years. What began as a loosely knit set of thirteen colonies is now 50 great states. And a powerhouse with global impact.

In our rise to global significance, the safety net has guarded the marketplace with unerring regularity. Social Security adds a significant chunk of activity to our economy and performs a dignified service for our society. The private market cannot perform the same service.

The private market has one purpose: capitalization. If we start giving our retirement accounts to the private market, there is no guarantee the market will not capitalize 100% of our accounts. And then poor elderly Republicans will understand why George W was not such a good idea.