Fiscal cliff talks....

[LordBrownTrout]

It's time to offer the archaic system of ss as an option to everyone.

 

[AmericanFirst]

All I hear are talks about taxes. Why is no one talking about the drivers of the debt? Why is all the pressure and focus on the GOP? They have budged on revenues. Shown a willingness to move the discussion forward but I've heard zero talk about the entitlements that actually drive the debt.

I'm beginning to believe that democrats are intentionally pushing the issue to the brink in order to score political points with the thought that the GOP will simply cave.

You have hit the pin on the point.

 

[AmericanFirst]

Raising the age requirements is a bandaid on an open wound. This is the time for serious reform. A true leader could easily emerge on this issue were one to exist.

Raising the age is far from a bandaid. it will fix Social Security and do much to make Medicare more solvent

Believing the bullshit from the left will be this countries downfall.

 

[Too Tall]

Raising the retirement age won't do diddly to help the debt or deficit. And in fact because of the added cost of doing might actually have many un-intended consequences.

There's no obligation on the part of employers to keep old employees around..for one.

Do the math.

What added cost? What are you even talking about?

Most people depend on employer provided benefits for a plethora of services.

Employers tend to let go of older workers and without reason.

That's the reason for SSI in the first place.

The reason for SSI is to help someone who is disabled and unable to work.

 

[ilia25]

All I hear are talks about taxes. Why is no one talking about the drivers of the debt? Why is all the pressure and focus on the GOP?

LOL -- because it is Republicans who demand the spending cuts! They have to detail what programs the want to "reform" -- only they are afraid to do it.

So they are stalling, hopping that Dens will do it for them. How cute is that?

 

[rightwinger]

What added cost? What are you even talking about?

Most people depend on employer provided benefits for a plethora of services.

Employers tend to let go of older workers and without reason.

That's the reason for SSI in the first place.

The reason for SSI is to help someone who is disabled and unable to work.

That is a secondary purpose

 

[LeftCoastVoter]

Social Security is not a driver of the deficit.

the current budget has the current make up.

SS - 20%
Medicare/Medicaid - 21%
Safety Net Programs - 13%
Interest on the debt - 6%
Defense - 20%
All other remaining programs - 21%

(Policy Basics: Where Do Our Federal Tax Dollars Go? — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)

The current budget for FY 201 is $3.726T and a deficit of $1.327T

The deficit is 35% of the total budget. If (as the right claims) they really want to balance the budget, then on spending cuts alone, if you eliminated "all other remaining programs" and did touch SS, Medicare, Medicaid, Safety Net, Interest or Defense, you would still have a short fall of 14.6%. otherwise you would need to have significant cuts to these programs to even make a dent. this is why you need to take a balanced approach of increased taxes as well as spending cuts. the math does not add up, and if you even tried to attempt cutting the federal budget by 35% you would cause massive unemployment across the entire country and send us back into a recession or even a depression.

why is Math so difficult for some to understand?

 

[LeftCoastVoter]

Raising the retirement age unfairly dings those on the lower end of the income scale. Busting ass in a boiler room is no easy task for a 60 year old. It is unbearable for a 69 year old.

You are going to have to plan for your own retirement. If you have a job you can't do till you are 70, you need to look at other options. You can work at Walmart in your 60s.

Or else you can structure your retirement where you pay more into an IRA/401K so that you will have extra funds and retire early

That would be a reasonable way to go about it if the average blue collar job paid enough to save a substantial amount for retirement. It does not.

to quote the current GOP, "whatever happened to personal responsibility?"

 

[LeftCoastVoter]

Raising the age requirements is a bandaid on an open wound. This is the time for serious reform. A true leader could easily emerge on this issue were one to exist.

Raising the age is far from a bandaid. it will fix Social Security and do much to make Medicare more solvent

Believing the bullshit from the left will be this countries downfall.

and the right is completely honest? the right claimed when Clinton proposed to raise taxes that it would destroy the economy and cause a recession. in fact it did the exact opposite and led to one of the greatest periods of prosperity and job creation we have seen.