"It was a SUPPLEMENT TO YOUR retirement program. " What retirement program? I met many older adults who worked hard all their lives serving food or doing hotel work with no retirement. And some had a retirement but the company went bankrupt.
As far as the feds being ill equipped to run ANY program, you think after the Recession we're supposed to trust private business? The feds run the best military in the world (with problems, sure). If we can do that, we can run financial regs that help people protect their savings.
Thank god government did not allow Bush to let people invest Social Security in the stock market.