ORIGINALLY WRITTEN JOEL KLAASSEN
If elected president of the United States, I would fix Social Security once and for all. It would take long-range planning, but isn’t that what they’ve been saying needs to be done all along?
Here’s the idea. The government places $2,000 in an IRA account for every baby born in the United States or is a United States citizen at birth. If invested in mutual funds and averages 10 percent compounded interest during the next 65 years-presto, the kid’s a millionaire! If it misses by a little, so what?
Then, when the kid reaches working age, he/she pays back the $2,000 for the babies being born at the present time. The deal then becomes self-perpetuating. And after the $2,000 is paid back, the worker can continue to contribute to his/her IRA until retirement. We’re then talking multi-millions.
And think about the boost to the economy if the money is invested in American companies who can use it to grow and create jobs and prosperity.
There’s the concept. Some smart people can figure out the details.
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I once said that if elected to a public office my campaign slogan would be: “I’ll be honest unless special interests get to me.”
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Experience. There is no substitute for it. You just have to do some things to learn the lessons that experience affords.
For example. My first car was a 1956 Plymouth convertible. I paid $175 for it in 1963. It had a 318 Dodge engine in it to soup it up.
Soon after I acquired it, the rods started knocking, so I thought I would put in new main bearings and rod bushings.
My cousin and uncle in Newton said they would help me put them in if I brought it to their place.
We slapped the new parts in one night. I fired it up and it sounded great. I jumped in and headed back home. By the time I got back to Hillsboro, the noise was back. What a major disappointment.
Not knowing what to do next, I took it to Curt Vogt, who was the mechanic at Schroeder Motors. He checked it out and said I had put the main bearing caps on backward. In doing so, I had covered the oil holes that allowed the oil to circulate through the crankshaft to the bearings.
Once the parts were put on correctly, the problem was solved.
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Sunday morning on the way to Kansas City, we learned what rain was like again. It even rained hard enough to use the wipers.
