MARINA DEL REY, CA -- August 14 marks the 65th anniversary of Social Security; a date that should be marked with the program's retirement, said a senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute.
     "The entire Social Security system is a giant political sham and viewed as an untouchable sacred cow," said Richard M. Salsman, who is president and chief market strategist for InterMarket Forecasting. "Even though the program has steadily been eating into Americans' pocket books for decades, both George W. Bush and Al Gore have made it clear they will not end this obviously destructive program."
     In an August 7 Bridge News Service-published editorial, Salsman suggested a way to immediately end Social Security. He wrote:
     "In the coming year the U.S. government could easily issue bonds in the amount of the total Social Security liability ($8.1 trillion), deposit the bonds in the accounts of all current retirees and payers of the payroll tax, abolish the payroll tax, and close the system. The bonds could be freely traded or sold to meet retirement needs. To pay interest on the bonds and eventually repay them, government could sell assets (such as publicly owned land and enterprises) and reduce other expenditures. There would be an immediate saving of $400 billion a year in Social Security payments alone."
     Salsman noted that his suggestion is not only pro-worker, but also pro-elderly, allowing everyone who has contributed into the Social Security system to benefit from the wealth expropriated from them by the government.