Uncle Sam, Stockholder #1

Set up private Social Security accounts and by 2050, Uncle Sam becomes the single largest investor on Wall Street. Goldman Sachs predicts the federal government would own 25% of the stock in America in 45 years.

Robert J. Samuelson writes in the Washington Post that the arrangement could politicize the investment decisions and that could cripple the economy.

That's because you wouldn't get to pick and choose exactly where you're money's invested. The government would make rules deciding where and how you invested money taken out of your Social Security withholding.

That's a lot of money -- which draws lobbyists like sugar draws flies. And they could influence your Congress members to direct that money to their clients.