Social Security - Best proposal is elimination

To the editor:

During his bid for the presidency, George W. Bush proposed the idea of Social Security privatization. Opponents misled the elderly by making them think it would be squandered on the stock market.

The Bush administration has been coming under increased pressure from the Mexican government to add thousands of Mexican citizens to the Social Security roster. The plan would send millions of dollars in benefits south of the border and would cost U.S. taxpayers an estimated $1 billion a year.

Apparently some money is owed to Mexicans who legally worked in the United States and paid Social Security taxes. The Washington Times reported that, in its 1996 immigration reform law, Congress decreed that foreigners not legally residing in the United States could no longer claim benefits unless their home countries were subject to a treaty. The United States has similar agreements with 20 other countries.

We can eliminate this risk not by privatizing Social security, but by eliminating it. If Social Security were eliminated, foreign workers wouldn't have to pay into it and U.S. taxpayers wouldn't have to watch our money go south of the border.

CLINT E. LACY

Marble Hill, Mo.