Social Security at risk with Koster

Regarding your Sept. 12 endorsement, “Send capable Koster to D.C.”:

There is no bigger issue this year than the economy. Both parties are pointing fingers — with candidates accusing each other of feckless spending. How we got into this mess is up for debate. However, one issue that both sides can agree on is that we are fighting to get out of the worst recession since the Great Depression.

I’m 74 and have paid into Social Security my entire working life. I remember a few years back when there were plans to privatize Social Security, so that seniors could invest a portion of their Social Security nest egg in the stock market. Well, I think it’s pretty clear how that would have turned out. I have friends and family that lost nearly everything in the stock market and are forced to rely on their Social Security benefits to make ends meet.

Two years later there is talk about investing Social Security funds into private accounts. Don’t be fooled, it may go by a different name, but you should expect the same result. The free market is a wonderful thing, but we have all seen that it is no substitute for the guaranteed benefit that Social Security provides. A vote for John Koster is a risk we cannot afford to make.

Al Jung

Arlington