(Cross-posted from the AFL-CIO Now Blog. More than 96,000 people in Wisconsin receive Social Security and thousands more are nearing retirement.)

Monday’s stock market disaster, with the Dow plummeting 778 points—a larger drop than after the Sept. 11 attacks—may make Wall Street traders and billionaire hedge fund investors hyperventilate.

But imagine how much worse for the rest of us it would have been if, three years ago, President Bush and Sen. John McCain had succeeded in their efforts to privatize Social Security, gambling in the stock market funds that have been a guaranteed income for America’s retirees?

Many of our 401(k)s and pension plans took a hit yesterday—but no matter how our individual retirements fare on Wall Street, we would still have Social Security to back us up.

Not so if McCain became president.

Cross-posted from the AFL-CIO Now Blog.

Sue Ledbetter, Labor 2008 state director for Wisconsin, reports on a labor council meeting inMilwaukee.

This month, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council’s
monthly delegate meeting featured a special economic forum panel discussion introduced by council Secretary-Treasurer Sheila Cochran: “Wrong Directions for the Economy.”