Social Security worth saving

I am gravely concerned about what President Bush is planning on doing with my Social Security and my children/s Social Security. Social Security is already in danger, and our senior citizens can barely afford to live, even though they have worked hard all of their lives.

The president is planning on cutting a third of our Social Security. Please don/t let our children/s future, as well as our own, be dismantled.

How are people supposed to be able to afford to save for retirement, when they can barely feed their families? Please don/t let a great American tradition like taking care of our senior citizens and our future generations go to waste! Don/t put the great President Roosevelt to shame and all of his hard work for nothing.

Josette Lodato

Nipomo

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Please protect Social Security

President Bush/s plan to dismantle Social Security is endangering the retirement of millions. Cutting the promised benefits to retirees dashes the hopes of people in our nation.

Those entering the workforce today are counting on Social Security, not only for themselves, but also for their children and all their future generations of descendants. Let us not stand by and let this happen.

Norine Nichols

Santa Maria

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Social Security a necessity

President Bush is endangering my retirement and the retirements of millions of Americans with his proposals on the future of Social Security.

For those entering the workforce today, the plan amounts to more than a 25-percent cut in the retirement benefits they/re counting on. For their children, it guarantees a 46-percent cut.

These cuts are felt whether or not an individual chooses to opt into the private account portion of the plan. Social Security is among the most successful government programs of all time.

Countless seniors have been afforded a dignified retirement by the modest wages provided under this program, and the program is solvent for at least 40 more years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

As a young man with a mental condition getting by on Social Security, I can tell you that without it, many of us would have nothing. This is an important program that, to many of us, makes the difference between a roof and a cardboard box overhead, hamburger or cat food on our plates.

Think about your own future, and your children/s future, and tell Bush to keep Wall Street out of our Social Security.

Seph McCarty

Santa Maria

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Time to close Vandenberg

In passing the resolution supporting Vandenberg Air Force Base/s role as "an integral part of the region/s economy, culture and environment," our local politicians show short-sightedness and lack of innovation and imagination in their dependence our Department of Defense facility.

Base closures can and should bring peaceful, productive economic activities for local area economies.

Such peaceful projects for the 98,000 VAFB acres may include a windfarm or facility to harness the ocean/s currents for energy, organic farms, a wilderness refuge and environmental education center, a conflict resolution center, which teaches how to resolve international issues non-violently, and more.

The time is now for California, and specifically the Central Coast, to look far beyond the defense industry for economic dependence and begin a new paradigm of peace. Shutting down Vandenberg Air Force Base is a great first step.

Sheila L. Baker

San Luis Obispo

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Keep an eye on government

Recently, White House sources revealed their plan to cut promised Social Security benefits to retirees by nearly a third!

And these cuts are guaranteed 7 whether you opt in to the Bush plan or not.

For those entering the workforce today, that means more than a 25-percent cut in the retirement benefits they/re counting on. For our children, it guarantees a 46-percent cut.

We can/t stand by and let George W. Bush and the administration cut our promised guaranteed retirement benefits, especially when so many of us are counting on Social Security to help us lead a happy, healthy life when we retire.

Look at what happened in California when we privatized electricity. We had the Enron scandal, they made out like bandits and the California government is still trying to figure out how to foot the bill.

It seems so popular right now to bash the government, but we seem to forget that the purpose of it is to protect us from capitalism run amuck.

Government regulations keep corporate America honest. Are we really supposed to believe that corporations, whose sole goal is to increase profit margins, are going to look out for our best interest when we are old and feeble?

Holle Vliet

Santa Maria

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What/s wrong with this picture?

While our troops are rummaging through scrap piles trying to find scrap metal to fortify their vehicles against mortar attacks and suicide bombings, our president is going to spend ,30 million on his inauguration.

Hail to the chief.

Joan Scott

Santa Maria