Transcript:

"Well maybe he decided we don’t need a commission because to paraphrase John McCain, the economy's strong. Right? Fundamentally strong. Yeah, yeah. Don’t need no commission. The economy's strong. Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac - the crisis on Wall Street's enough to rattle any investor let alone somebody who is about to retire or who’s already living on fixed income. 401K's and pension plans, many of which have exposure to these companies I just mentioned, are taking HUGE hits as a result of this 'fundamentally strong' economy.

Luckily we have the safety net of Social Security to fall back on. At least for now.

Remember four years ago, President Bush made a big push to partially privatize Social Security. You know, so we could then individually invest or future with those great minds on Wall Street. It failed back then but that concept could still very much become a reality because, you see, John McCain also supports supplementing Social Security with private investment accounts. His opponent, Barack Obama, does not.

Here’s the question: "In light of the failures of large financial institutions, is privatizing Social Security a good idea?" Go to cnn.com/caffertyfile to post a comment on my blog."

Question this hour, Wolfe: "In light of the failures of large financial institutions, is privatizing Social Security a good idea?"

Viewer comments:

Julianna - "You're delusional if you think dismantling our nation's only financial safety net for retirees, during this time of economic instability. Privatization is a capitalist concept driven only by avarice and greed. I already highly suspect my hard earned 401k monies are a pyramid scheme for the rich so please don't give 'em our social security dollars to squander on risky investments as well."

Jonathan - "Social security is just that, 'social' security. By privatizing social security, it does nothing more than remove that fundamental principal it is based upon."

Gail, NY - "Given the level of ineptitude, deliberate blindness and general lemming tendencies of most Americans, no. We're just too stupid to do this on our own."

Grace - "If it wasn't for FDR and Social Security, I would be living with my Republican children. Enough said."

M.J. - "Why don't we just give McCain and Phil Gramm all our money and they can just put us in camps, where they can ration our food and blankets? No, I don't want them gambling with my social security. Haven't they done enough?"

Steven - "If you like all the excitement we've seen in our economy, culminating in the last few days' excitement on Wall Street, you're going to fundamentally love the excitement to your retirement plans brought about by the privatization of social security."

Jan, IL - "Jack, I just received my first check last month. After 45 years of working it's not much, but I need every single penny. If there's any chance of privatization, well, I can't take the risk of not having this money. $581 a month isn't much but it beats the hell out of nothing."