Social Security disability on verge of insolvency!

[MikeK]

Well it was sold to the American People, and passed as a pay as you go Retirement plan. That's the Problem with these Programs. They never turn out to be what we are told they will be, and they always cost far more than Projected.

It's been working flawlessly for seventy-five years and is (credibly) projected to continue working without revision until 2037. To extend that projection will require some tweaking, such as increasing the retirement age, removing the contributions cap and imposing a means test, all of which are reasonable revisions.

Which of "these programs" are you referring to that didn't turn out as we were told it would? I'm not aware of anything comparable to Social Security, which has very successfully achieved its intended purpose? The only problem with Social Security I'm aware of is the lack of appropriate increase in retirement age and the Congress being able to replace actual funds with IOUs.

 

[Charles_Main]

Well it was sold to the American People, and passed as a pay as you go Retirement plan. That's the Problem with these Programs. They never turn out to be what we are told they will be, and they always cost far more than Projected.

It's been working flawlessly for seventy-five years and is (credibly) projected to continue working without revision until 2037. To extend that projection will require some tweaking, such as increasing the retirement age, removing the contributions cap and imposing a means test, all of which are reasonable revisions.

Which of "these programs" are you referring to that didn't turn out as we were told it would? I'm not aware of anything comparable to Social Security, which has very successfully achieved its intended purpose? The only problem with Social Security I'm aware of is the lack of appropriate increase in retirement age and the Congress being able to replace actual funds with IOUs.

I read that the Projections saying it is good till 2037 Exclude the Disability side of it all together to Falsely show solvency where there is none.

Over half of Ever Dollar is now not going to retired workers, But Rather Disabled people. Many of whom never worked, or didn't work long enough to pay much in.

Also when it was Created there were 26 Workers for every 1 Collecting. Now it's down to 2 to 1.

Sorry man I think they are cooking the books when they say it's all good till 2037. Maybe I am wrong but I just think something smells.

When I said these things never cost as little as they say they will, I was more thinking about MC. However SS did not work out the way it was Billed. As you mentioned the Government has been robbing the Trust fund and leaving IOU's. Not suppose to happen. More than of the money paid out is going to Disabled people who didn't pay in. Was not in what was originally sold to us.

Pretty much sums up my whole point. Nothing the Government passes, or says. Ever turns out the way we were told it would.

And working Flawlessly? Tell that to the Millions of people who have lived in poverty collection SS only to die before they ever collect anywhere near what they paid in.

 

[auditor0007]

First off -- ALL of Social Security went INSOLVENT in 2010.. Hate to break the news here, but the article repeats the same lie about taking "funds out of the Trust Fund until 2017".. THERE IS NOTHING OF VALUE in the trust fund and Soc Sec paid out MORE in 2010 than it took in.. NO MORE SURPLUS...

That is -- thanks to Obama and progressives reaching deep to find the ONLY TAX CUT that would apply to all workers.. Which was to raid the premiums for SS at a time when the fund was going into an early coma. That and continued sucky economy..

FIRST washington steals $3Trill over 25 years in SS surplus and puts worthless IOUs in the "trust fund".
NOW they are stealing from current premiums..
NEXT they have UNIVERSAL health care to sell us -- because we TRUST THEM SO DAMN much.. (Yes I'm angry)

BTW: As all self-employed and small business owners do -- I get to pay the entire 12.6% MYSELF. What an 'f-in' bargain eh??

I am in that group, but I'm not bitching about it. The fact is that if you are self-employed, you are the employer and employee, therefore you pay both shares. There is nothing at all unfair about it. The only time it becomes an issue is if your business is in competition with others who will work under the table, leaving you at a huge disadvantage. But that is another issue completely.

 

[Missourian]

FICA taxes are a huge windfall for the federal government. They realized that way back in FDR's day while politicians were stealing the money. LBJ made it "legal" by officially designating FICA taxes as the property of the federal government and from then on there was no pretending about a social security "locked box". There ain't no money because there never was anything but a promise to pay it back.

Bingo.

 

[Lakhota]

Social Security disability on verge of insolvency!

Says who?

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Social Security disability on verge of insolvency!

Says who?

2 Links were provided? Are you unable to click on them? Or trolling?

 

[KissMy]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsOsp086Hn4&list=FLIw_4LbNv_mLv6Gr2QxdJ7g&index=106"]2008 Democrat National Convention[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NkoWIH8_wA&feature=autoplay&list=FLIw_4LbNv_mLv6Gr2QxdJ7g&index=107&playnext=1"]ObamaCare rally[/ame]

 

[editec]

Social security, military retirement, government retirement bennies....all are based on the presumption that the USA is a GOING CONCERN.

But...thanks to decades of extrmely stupid supply-side policies, The USA is not GOING quite so fast as it once did.

 

[sparky]

for those who didn't get the memo>

A few days past, President Obama stated that he could not guarantee that Social Security checks would be mailed on August 3 if the debt ceiling was not raised. I wonder if I am the only person interested in what he did not say.

What he did not say:

I will not be able to get my monthly check for $33,333.33, Vice-President Biden will not get his check for $19,225.00, and oh by the way, Michelle will be happy to give up a vacation until we get this mess straightened out.

Congress will not be able to get their checks which average $14,500.00 per member. My Czars will not be able to receive their checks, some of which receive $14,350.00 per month and others receive $13,208..33 a month.

My cabinet members will not receive their $15,941.66 monthly check. Their Deputy Secretaries will not be able to receive their $14,350.00 monthly check. Their Under Secretaries will not be able to receive their $13,208.33 monthly check. Their Assistant Secretaries, general counsels, and heads of minor departments will not be able to receive their $12,416.66 monthly check. My various administrators, board members, commissioners, and others will not be able to get their $11,633.33 monthly check.

The Supreme Court will not be able to receive their $17,341.66 monthly check. The U.S. Appeals Court and Appeals Judges for the Armed Forces will not be able to receive their $14,591.66 monthly check. The U.S. District Court, Claims Court, International Trade Court, and U.S. Tax Court Judges will not be able to receive their $13,766.66 monthly check. And the Bankruptcy and Magistrate Judges will not be able to get their $12,665.33 monthly check.

The gaggle of Washington TSA bureaucrats will not receive their $8,750.00 monthly checks. The tens of thousands of other various paper shufflers who are pigeon holed in various offices in Washington will not receive their checks which average more than $8,333.33 a month.

What I heard coming from the lips of the President was that the only folks that should be concerned was people receiving Social Security checks. Isn't it ironic that the only people he feels that he cannot assure with any degree of certainty that they will get their checks are the ones who need the money the most? The national average for all Social Security beneficiaries is $1,079.00 monthly, which totals a whopping $12,948.00 yearly; the money coming from a fund that most have paid into their entire working lives. Or put another way, the average Social Security recipient gets a check each month that equals about 3% of what the President receives each month; and in theory, they are getting back their own money.

Never mind that the United States Constitution requires the President to pay Principal and Interest on the National Debt and then Federal Pensions before any other funds can be obligated. It is a foregone conclusion that Mr. Obama missed his constitutional law classes at Harvard.

The mere fact that the President, any President, would threaten in any
"thinly veiled" manner that the elderly would not get their pension checks is about as contemptible and fear mongering effort as any elected official could use for expediency. This is outrageous even for this chronic avoider of the truth!

All seniors should reward this Prince of Politics in November 2012 in like manner for his obvious lack of respect for our welfare, physical and mental, and his attempt to manipulate the debt ceiling discussion using senior citizens as pawns.

 

[Lovebears65]

I know so many people who are abusing this including my brother. He says he cant work due to back issues but he can go hunting every winter and drag out a deer. Makes me so angry. My mom sticks up for him. My husband who has two disc fused in his neck. Has arthritis in every joint in his body works full time without complaint. His doctors say he can get on this but he refuses because he feels he cant still work through the pain. People use the system so bad while we pay taxes for them to use the system. The people going on SSI are drug addicts too. Why should our tax dollars go to them.

 

[editec]

I know so many people who are abusing this including my brother. He says he cant work due to back issues but he can go hunting every winter and drag out a deer. Makes me so angry. My mom sticks up for him. My husband who has two disc fused in his neck. Has arthritis in every joint in his body works full time without complaint. His doctors say he can get on this but he refuses because he feels he cant still work through the pain. People use the system so bad while we pay taxes for them to use the system. The people going on SSI are drug addicts too. Why should our tax dollars go to them.

Why haven't you documented his fraud and turned him in?

 

[RetiredGySgt]

I know so many people who are abusing this including my brother. He says he cant work due to back issues but he can go hunting every winter and drag out a deer. Makes me so angry. My mom sticks up for him. My husband who has two disc fused in his neck. Has arthritis in every joint in his body works full time without complaint. His doctors say he can get on this but he refuses because he feels he cant still work through the pain. People use the system so bad while we pay taxes for them to use the system. The people going on SSI are drug addicts too. Why should our tax dollars go to them.

Why haven't you documented his fraud and turned him in?

I want her to provide evidence that a lot of drug addicts are getting on SSI.

 

[BoycottTheday]

Everyone i know on disability is hooked on Oxy,

first thing they said to me after i got hurt was "Dude, you can get all the oxy you want now!"

I said thanks anyways i;ll just get a nice custom rigid framed wheelchair instead and just get better.

Plenty of proof around if you care to listen.

 

[Conservative]

2017 is the date that the disability trust fund runs dry the retirement trust fund is good for 20 years beyond that.

I direct you to post #8.

 

[Lovebears65]

I know so many people who are abusing this including my brother. He says he cant work due to back issues but he can go hunting every winter and drag out a deer. Makes me so angry. My mom sticks up for him. My husband who has two disc fused in his neck. Has arthritis in every joint in his body works full time without complaint. His doctors say he can get on this but he refuses because he feels he cant still work through the pain. People use the system so bad while we pay taxes for them to use the system. The people going on SSI are drug addicts too. Why should our tax dollars go to them.

Why haven't you documented his fraud and turned him in?

I want her to provide evidence that a lot of drug addicts are getting on SSI.

Ok off hand. My niece is a heroin addict and she get it, A friend of mine also a heroin addict get its. One of my brothers is in AA and he gets it. Of course the doctors write it in as depression but they know its for the other. And those are the only ones I know about.I live in Ga and my family still lives in Pittsburgh I get all my information from my mom so since I dont see it first hand I dont think I can turn it in

 

[thereisnospoon]

Well it was sold to the American People, and passed as a pay as you go Retirement plan. That's the Problem with these Programs. They never turn out to be what we are told they will be, and they always cost far more than Projected.

It's been working flawlessly for seventy-five years and is (credibly) projected to continue working without revision until 2037. To extend that projection will require some tweaking, such as increasing the retirement age, removing the contributions cap and imposing a means test, all of which are reasonable revisions.

Which of "these programs" are you referring to that didn't turn out as we were told it would? I'm not aware of anything comparable to Social Security, which has very successfully achieved its intended purpose? The only problem with Social Security I'm aware of is the lack of appropriate increase in retirement age and the Congress being able to replace actual funds with IOUs.

I agree with the removal of the cap. Retirement age should be increased to 68.
Means testing...Ahh ha....That is another ball of wax.
No matter how wealthy a retiree is, no matter how large their pension may be, seniors look upon SS as " I paid into that system and I want my money back"...They will not give it up without a fight. No US House ,Senate or Presidential candidate is going to fight that battle.
There could be seniors who's pensions are thousands of dollars per month. Doesn't matter. SS money is THEIR money.
I think SS should be means tested, but I am not running for office either.
BTW, new federal law must be enacted to prevent Congress or the President from touching SS money. FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER.

 

[Claudette]

Social Security disability on verge of insolvency!

Says who?

When your 14 Trillion in debt and borrowing money from China to pay the bills I would say everything is broke.

 

[BoycottTheday]

How about selling some of that western land the federal govt is sitting on,

why does the govt own so much crap they dont even take care of?

How about stopping the practice of automatically increasing departments budgets every year.

That alone would balance the budget in short order.

How about using generally accepted methods of accounting.

So much can be done butt no! Insert heads up ass herre -} 0 {-

 

[Truthmatters]

Joshua Holland's Blog: The Associated Press Packs a Bunch of Lies About Social Security into a News Report



Is it "sick"? Social Security has $2.5 trillion in T-Bills sitting in a trust fund, is financed through 2037 and if nothing were to change it would still be able to pay out higher benefits than it does today, indefinitely.

Is it getting sicker? Well, the 2000 Social Security Trustees's report (PDF) projected that the trust fund would run out in ... 2037. But the 1997 report (PDF) expected the trust fund to be depleted by 2029 -- 8 years earlier than currently projected. So in that sense, it's "healthier" today than it was 13 years ago.

 

[flacaltenn]

New congressional estimates say the trust fund that supports Social Security disability will run out of money by 2017, leaving the program unable to pay full benefits, unless Congress acts. About two decades later, Social Security's much larger retirement fund is projected to run dry as well.

Social Security disability on verge of insolvency - Yahoo! News

So SS disability insolvent in 2017 and SS retirement funds insolvent in 2037.

They are continuing the lie about the Trust Fund.. Soc Sec is insolvent NOW.. Because NEW debt is being issued to balance out the books as of 2010.. MAYBE -- if the economy picks up and the "rebates" of payroll taxes are canceled -- it will go back into the black for a few more years..

Charles Krauthammer: 'Special issue' bonds don't change the fact that the lockbox is empty

Krautheimer::::

Really? If these trust fund bonds represent anything real, why is it that in calculating national indebtedness they are not even included? We measure national solvency by debt/GDP ratio. As calculated by everyone from the OMB to the CIA, from the Simpson-Bowles to the Domenici-Rivlin commissions, the debt/GDP ratio counts only publicly held debt. This means bonds held by China, Saudi Arabia, you and me. The debt ratio completely ignores the kind of intragovernmental bonds that Mr. Lew insists are the equivalent of publicly held bonds.

Why? Because the intragovernmental bond is nothing more than a bookkeeping device that records how much one part of the U.S. government (Treasury) owes another part of the same government (the Social Security Administration). In judging the creditworthiness of the United States, the world doesn't care what the left hand owes the right. It's all one entity. It cares only what that one entity owes the world.

That's why publicly held bonds are so radically different from intragovernmental bonds. If we default on Chinese-held debt, decades of AAA creditworthiness is destroyed, the world stops lending to us, the dollar collapses, the economy goes into a spiral and we become Argentina. That's why such a default is inconceivable.

On the other hand, what would happen to financial markets if the Treasury stopped honoring the "special issue" bonds in the Social Security trust fund? A lot of angry grumbling at home for sure. But externally? Nothing.

This "default" would simply be the Treasury telling the Social Security Administration that henceforth it would have to fend for itself in covering its annual shortfall. How? By means-testing (cutting the benefits to the rich), changing the inflation formula, raising the retirement age and, if necessary, hiking the cap on income subject to the payroll tax