As far as SS is concerned, when it first started the average age was around 65. Most did not live longer than that so SS was storing up money for the future, that is until Congress seen that it was just sitting there drawing interest. Now that the life span is up into the 70s for both ladies and men, SS is not able to keep up with the change.

Either the retirement age has to be raised or we will all need to take a cut in SS payments. If we take a cut in SS payments, then we the people should demand that Congress goes under the SS plan for retirement. I, for one, am tired of financing an elected public officials retirement plan and medical plan. Let them join us and see how they like it. I will bet that SS get fixed and funded quicker than a brown fox jumps over a lazy dog.

Read an interesting email that has been circulating lately. Could not find anything to prove or disprove the numbers but in a nut shell the jest of the email was, 3 states, Michigan, Wisconson and North Dakota, during deer hunting season, fielded a 1.2 million man armed army, in which no one was shot, other than a few deer and everyone went home. If in fact this is true our government really needs to start taking care of it people and do as we elected them to do. Hungry people do crazy things, just look around the world at the current unrest in the 3d world counties where there is a huge difference between the "haves" and the "have nots."

Oh, and I have been paying SS since I was 13. Being a military brat, when we were stationed overseas the Air Force would have summer jobs for us. 35 cents an hours and we could only work 4 hours a day for 3 days a week. They took SS out of our pay checks. So I guess that I have been paying SS for 54 years now.

Come on folks jump on in and give your opinion, this could be a really good thread.