I was appalled to learn that President Bush has quietly inserted a proposal to move forward with privatization of Social Security into his 2007 budget. He made no mention of this in his State of the Union address.

The price tag for privatizing the program in the budget is gigantic – $712 billion – an amount that would grow substantially larger over time.

This means that under the budget plan, taxpayers would pay more than $700 billion in order to pay to privatize the Social Security program and cut future guaranteed Social Security benefits.

Last year, when Bush tried to push Social Security reform, the American people got a chance to take a good, long look at his proposal and made it clear that Social Security was not to be tampered with.

This is yet another example of how the president does not listen to the voices of the people.

What is even more surprising is that the proposal also eliminates the $255 death benefit provided by Social Security to the families of those who die. While modest, this benefit is very important to many families who need assistance in order to bury their loved ones with dignity.

Thanks to Rep. Mike Michaud for educating me on this budget proposal and for his opposition to it. Sens. Snowe and Collins must be made aware of opposition to it, as well. Hopefully, they will listen to the voices of the people.

Bruna Piccin, Gilead