Social Security Neglect Hurts Most Vulnerable Seniors Law Professor Dwight Drake, Reader Opinion special to AgeVenture Syndicated News Service 12-16-04 Social Security is in crisis. That's not news. Here's what is. According to Dwight Drake, a law professor and author of the book "Gutless Neglect: America's Biggest Money Crisis", if the neglect of this crisis continues, middle and low-income Americans will continue to be the punished victims and any chance for a real fix to the crisis will be lost. Over the past two decades, a payroll tax accounting gimmick has been used to shift huge government operating expenses to low and middle-income workers. Not a cent has been saved to fund the trillions promised to baby boomers. Drake emphasizes that the real "disaster of continued neglect" is the lost opportunity to fix America's financial future. He explained, "The only way to assure all promised Social Security benefits are paid in full is to start funding the future debt right now. Our leaders must focus on the crisis before it hits the boiling point. Otherwise, the only option will be to allocate serious pain among retired boomers, not a dime of whose promised benefits will have been funded, and the young of America, who will be staring at unprecedented tax increases and an unfathomable federal debt. For more information on the book "Gutless Neglect, American's Biggest Money Crisis", visit Amazon.com Comments in response to AgeVenture's Guest Opinion are welcome from responsible individuals and organizations. AgeVenture reserves the right to edit Op-Ed submissions for length and content.