Social Security now in the RED

[ArlJim78]

Two years ago the CBO said it would happen in 2018.
Last year they said it would happen in 2016.
Surprise surprise, it will happen this year (http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2010/03/25/social-security-in-the-red/), 2010. Social security will take in less than it pays out. Its in the red (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/business/economy/25social.html?hp).

This country is drowning in debt, and our day of reckoning is upon us. Yet our ruling party is still celebrating the largest tax hike and benefit expansion in history. The result will be a loss of jobs and an acceleration of even greater debt accumulation and no doubt a future news story about how the CBO's numbers on healthcare were way too optimistic.

Its time to make hard choices yet so many seem to inhabit some fantasy world where it's always Christmas morning and money simply falls from the sky.

[DRIVEWAY]

Two years ago the CBO said it would happen in 2018.
Last year they said it would happen in 2016.
Surprise surprise, it will happen this year (http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2010/03/25/social-security-in-the-red/), 2010. Social security will take in less than it pays out. Its in the red (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/business/economy/25social.html?hp).

This country is drowning in debt, and our day of reckoning is upon us. Yet our ruling party is still celebrating the largest tax hike and benefit expansion in history. The result will be a loss of jobs and an acceleration of even greater debt accumulation and no doubt a future news story about how the CBO's numbers on healthcare were way too optimistic.

Its time to make hard choices yet so many seem to inhabit some fantasy world where it's always Christmas morning and money simply falls from the sky.

What hard choices would you suggest?

[Tom]

Dismantle the government and sell of the assets.
STOP deducting any SS money immediately - you are defrauding the people who you steal it form. Shut down the government. Stop ALL spending
Bring home every single soldier anywhere in the world. Close all bases.
Stop all foreign aid.

[DRIVEWAY]

Dismantle the government and sell of the assets.
STOP deducting any SS money immediately - you are defrauding the people who you steal it form. Shut down the government. Stop ALL spending
Bring home every single soldier anywhere in the world. Close all bases.
Stop all foreign aid.

Finally, the voice of reason has spoken. Have you thrown any bricks lately?

[NJ Stinks]

What hard choices would you suggest?

Raise the cap on wages subject to SS. Just like they did every other time SS was in trouble.

Nah, that's too simple. :rolleyes:

[Tom]

Finally, the voice of reason has spoken. Have you thrown any bricks lately?

I'm not a democrat.

NJ......they must be ice skating in Hell because we agree on this one! :lol:
Raise it Hell - eliminate it completely.

[DRIVEWAY]

Raise the cap on wages subject to SS. Just like they did every other time SS was in trouble.

Nah, that's too simple. :rolleyes:

Change early retirement age to 65. Currently 85% of retirees take early retirement.
Change full retirement to age 70.
Change disability to early retirement payments instead of full retirement payments.
Change Medicare to age 70.
Allow Medicare buyin at age 55.
Change widow Social Security from age 60 to age 63 with the same income restrictions.
Change dependent SS payments to early retirement levels.

On the wages subject to SS adjust wages higher based upon COLA payment increases. If COLA is 2% then wages subject to SS tax go up by 2%.

Now logic says that people have planned retirement based upon the current system. A phase-in of 20 years would be required to make these changes fair.

However, in this political environment good luck trying to introduce changes anywhere near these.

[Tom]

END SS.

It has never been anything more than a boneheaded socialist idea and a a slush fund for crooked politicians. It is 100% unfair to anyone working and taking responsibility for themselves.

[ArlJim78]

What hard choices would you suggest?
I could go many places, but why bother. None of it will happen. we're on a course 180 degrees from where I think we should be headed especially with socialism all the rage now in Washington.

No we'll make the changes only when they are externally forced upon us by a crisis, not preemptively.

okay then, in short government needs to shrink. We need to reduce the governments footprint on the economy, so that means cutting spending everywhere, revamping entitlement programs, selling of these zombie GSE entities, privatizing, cutting capital gains taxes, revising salary and benefits of the public sector, etc.

Whether we want to do this or not, I'm saying these above things will happen. Its just a matter of how and when. We're on a collision course with reality.

I'm sure the thing they we will do instead of cutting is to try to raise more revenue by new taxes. I hear talk of a VAT tax. This debt commission is going to come to the conclusion to raise taxes. That will buy time in the short tun but it won't fix the problem and in the long run it exacerbates the problem.

Of course don't forget the very popular carbon tax which has many adherents among our policy makers.

with many dead or dying industries, and millions unemployed, when you start talking about adding all these new taxes to prop up the current bloated system, it makes it hard to see how the private sector will ever lead the way again in terms of growth.

[delayjf]

So given the CBO's outstanding job predicting SS, why should we believe them about healthcare?

[Dave Schwartz]

Why not just create a maximum age and eliminate all those old, sick people altogether? Just line 'em up and shoot 'em. If you plan it right they can just fall backwards into a mass grave. (Save on mortuary costs.)

You know, I think this has been done before; back in the 1940s.

With SS and Medicare gone you can re-route the tax money into more Oboma-nations.


:ThmbDown: :ThmbDown: :ThmbDown:


Listen... I paid a lifetime of social security taxes. The concept was that someone would do the same for me when I needed it. Discontinuing it now would be totally unfair to ALL of us getting ready to collect our fair share.

[boxcar]

Why not just create a maximum age and eliminate all those old, sick people altogether? Just line 'em up and shoot 'em. If you plan it right they can just fall backwards into a mass grave. (Save on mortuary costs.)

You know, I think this has been done before; back in the 1940s.

With SS and Medicare gone you can re-route the tax money into more Oboma-nations.


:ThmbDown: :ThmbDown: :ThmbDown:


Listen... I paid a lifetime of social security taxes. The concept was that someone would do the same for me when I needed it. Discontinuing it now would be totally unfair to ALL of us getting ready to collect our fair share.

Yeah, but, Dave...it ain't fair that you're so greedy now and want your "fair share" given the current situation. You gotta be more flexible and roll with the punches, you know? You gotta adapt. ;)

Boxcar

[Tom]

Listen... I paid a lifetime of social security taxes. The concept was that someone would do the same for me when I needed it. Discontinuing it now would be totally unfair to ALL of us getting ready to collect our fair share.

What I meant was to end it and give all back what we put into it, and take no more out. If I had only the money they stole from me, no interest, I would be set for life. That makes far more sense than bailing out GM or Citi or an business. Our government is nothing more than the mafia without the class, and with extra meatballs.

[skate]

Put an end (close to it) to entitlements...now..bring home the troops...yesterday.


Give aid to Isreal and off with Iran...now:kiss:

[acorn54]

i think i read somewhere that 52 million americans were recieving money from the social security system, this includes regular social security, ssi, and ssd.
if there are 300 million americans, that is one in six people.

[grexxon]

It might be one thing if you set behind a desk all day but if you make a living doing hard labor that's another thing. I'm am retired an the age thing is good
the way it is. There's never any money in the fund because the goverment
spends it all the time. If there is no money stop the war and there will be plenty, put some in to SS. Stop the war they don't want us over there anyway. Stop giving tax payers money to other countries and use it here. .

[Robert Goren]

i think i read somewhere that 52 million americans were recieving money from the social security system, this includes regular social security, ssi, and ssd.
if there are 300 million americans, that is one in six people.SSI funds do not come from the social security trust fund, but from the general treasury. It is, however, administrated by the SS system.