The president's claim that Social Security is going broke is misleading at best. The sky is not falling, although there is no doubt that the system needs to be strengthened.

Social Security has been effective for 70 years; prior predictions of its demise have been totally overstated.

Even without reforms, the Social Security fund will be able to meet 100 percent of its obligations until 2042.

Latinos are disproportionately more likely to be injured on the job than other ethnic groups.

To allow all U.S. workers to put part of their earnings into private investment accounts would definitely erode the Social Security system and cause uncertainty for new investors.

We must work to stabilize Social Security. We must not gamble with our nation's social insurance program, one of our most popular and effective federal programs that has remained dependable and stable for the past 70 years.

A Congressional Budget Office report released as recent as June 2004 says the system will be able to pay full benefits until 2052, and 80 percent after that.