I just caught these numbers on Hardball with Chris Matthews tonight, and wow. What a shock. HUGE changes have happened over the last eight years, and not for the better.

Today’s newspaper headlines were no prettier. “System in Crisis” “Merrill Lynch – Weekend Merger Struck With Bank of America” “Lehman Brothers – Troubled Investment Bank to File for Bankruptcy.” And the Dow dropped more than 500 points.

The idea that Social Security might have been privatized – that is, tied to the stock market – is horrifying at this moment in time.