Social Security is nourished by formal employment, which needs a larger commitment from the federal government to grow,

We probably should have almost maniacally focused on cutting taxes, reforming government, working on saving Social Security, recognize that would cause a big fight, accept that was a better fight for us than drifting into October with, as people kept saying, no national themes, no national dialogue,

The Social Security "trust fund" doesn't consist of any real assets. The government "borrows" fund money for other federal spending, replacing it with IOUs.

The major impact of Sept. 11 on privatization is the disappearance of the Social Security surplus, ... Before the attacks, it was questionable whether we had enough money available to pay for the transition to privatization. This makes the issue even more difficult.

We can set aside a surplus to save Social Security or Medicare, or we can pass the burden of the baby boomers retirement off on to our children,

I believe keeping our promises should be our highest priority and that means saving Social Security and Medicare while preserving the American dream for our children and grandchildren.