Ensuring the long-term solvency of the Social Security program is an absolute necessity.  However, I am strongly opposed to the President's plan to privatize Social Security.  Not only would this plan threaten the stability of Social Security, the cost of transitioning citizens to private accounts would add trillions of dollars to our national debt. Since private accounts would need to be funded out of the same pool of money that pays current Social Security benefits, there would be fewer resources available to pay benefits to current retirees.  This shortfall would reduce benefits for people who will retire during the transition from the current system to the private accounts system. 

Social Security is a good program that has provided a safety net for older Americans for decades.  We don't need to change the system - we need to protect it from raids by legislators looking for extra dollars.