Social Security is banrupt, so why the extra bump in the rate?

[4Horsemen]

Those of you that earn a check for a living, you may realize that your social security taxes took a hike this last pay period. how convinient Obama. fiscal cliff here we come.

 

[waltky]

Mebbe to restore it to solvency?

 

[Sarah G]

Why Social Security Cannot Go Bankrupt - Forbes

Social Security is not bankrupt.

 

[Politico]

They need to pilfer more for HC.

 

[4Horsemen]

Why Social Security Cannot Go Bankrupt - Forbes

Social Security is not bankrupt.

oh yes it is. I don't buy that article.

 

[LoneLaugher]

Those of you that earn a check for a living, you may realize that your social security taxes took a hike this last pay period. how convinient Obama. fiscal cliff here we come.

What! Social Security taxes went up?!! When? Why didn't I hear about this?

 

[LilOlLady]

Social Security, Medicare is not bankrupt and not going bankrupt and does not add one penny to the debt as the Radical Right claim so they can get the grubby greedy hands on them and cut benefits. The Radical Right use scare tactics to get people to follow them and they expect it.

FACT CHECK: Medicare and Social Security are NOT going bankrupt
Last night, during the vice presidential debate with Joe Biden, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan lied to the American people. He said, “Medicare and Social Security are going bankrupt. These are indisputable facts.”
This statement was a bald-faced lie. Neither program is going bankrupt any time soon. Here’s our quick explainer why:

Social Security: It’s currently projected to be fully solvent until the year 2037. After that, it is expected to be able to pay out 75 percent of benefits until 2084, which basically equals full benefits, once inflation is accounted for. There is no threat of the program running out of money any time soon. We could make it solvent far into the future if we simply raised the payroll tax cap — meaning that income above $106,000 would be taxed just like income below that amount is. Lifting the cap would require the wealthy to pay a tiny bit more so that the program would be safe and secure. Even a majority of self-identified Tea Partiers find this to be a good idea versus cutting Social Security by raising the retirement age.


Medicare: According to the Medicare Trustees’ annual report that was released in April 2012, “the Hospital Insurance (Part A) Trust Fund has sufficient reserves to pay out the full amount of Medicare Part A benefits until 2024 – the same projection made in last year’s report. Should nothing else change, and the Trust Fund reserves be depleted in 2024, the Trust Fund would still receive sufficient income from the payroll taxes and other revenue through which it is funded to pay 87% of anticipated Part A expenses.” And all of that is based on a projection based on a poor economy — as the economy improves, so will the projection. ”Medicare is not going bankrupt

FACT CHECK: Medicare and Social Security are NOT going bankrupt - Democratic Underground

Neither Medicare nor Social Security are going bankrupt. The media and public should not be fooled by Paul Ryan’s lies. They are designed to trick Americans into accepting the sort of society an Ayn Rand acolyte like Ryan wants us to live in — where everyone is on their own, and a wealthy elite is the only class who gets to have a comfortable retirement.

http://boldprogressives.org/paul-ryan-lied-medicare-and-social-security-are-not-going-bankrupt/

 

[LilOlLady]

Why Social Security Cannot Go Bankrupt - Forbes

Social Security is not bankrupt.

oh yes it is. I don't buy that article.

And WTF do you base your knowledge on? FOXNEWS?

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Social Security, Medicare is not bankrupt and not going bankrupt and does not add one penny to the debt as the Radical Right claim so they can get the grubby greedy hands on them and cut benefits. The Radical Right use scare tactics to get people to follow them and they expect it.

Social Security has started dipping into its trust fund to cover its obligations. Furthermore, the percentage of the budget Social Security and Medicare take up is increasing every year.

So yes, they do contribute to the debt.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/opinion/sunday/social-security-its-worse-than-you-think.html?_r=0

Federal Spending by the Numbers - 2012

 

[Toronado3800]

Social Security, Medicare is not bankrupt and not going bankrupt and does not add one penny to the debt as the Radical Right claim so they can get the grubby greedy hands on them and cut benefits. The Radical Right use scare tactics to get people to follow them and they expect it.

Social Security has started dipping into its trust fund to cover its obligations. Furthermore, the percentage of the budget Social Security and Medicare take up is increasing every year.

So yes, they do contribute to the debt.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/opinion/sunday/social-security-its-worse-than-you-think.html?_r=0

Federal Spending by the Numbers - 2012

No, Social Security is not adding to the debt. Like you said it is using ITS saved money from the surplus years. A bump in the retirement age (like make it a fixed percentage of life expectancy) and or bump in the tax cap limit (another number which should raise over time) fixes the math.

 

[martinjlm]

Those of you that earn a check for a living, you may realize that your social security taxes took a hike this last pay period. how convinient Obama. fiscal cliff here we come.

A couple years ago the Obama administration instituted what was then called a "payroll tax holiday". They TEMPORARILY reduced the FICA deduction by 2% for everyone paying FICA. When it was time for it to end, the economy was still in recession, so it was extended until Dec. 31, 2012. Which is why it went back to the rate it had previously been at before President Obama originally lowered it.

If you're gonna give him shit for raising it, at least give him credit it for having lowered it in the first place.

 

[boedicca]

S.S. is not going bankrupt only if one assumes that SS taxes will increase dramatically.

Under current projections, the annual cost of Social Security benefits expressed as a share of workers’ taxable earnings will grow rapidly from 11.3 percent in 2007, the last pre-recession year, to roughly 17.4 percent in 2035, and will then decline slightly before slowly increasing after 2050.[/ Costs display a slightly different pattern when expressed as a share of GDP. Program costs equaled 4.2 percent of GDP in 2007, and the Trustees project these costs will increase gradually to 6.4 percent of GDP in 2035 before declining to about 6.1 percent of GDP by 2050 and then remaining at about that level.


SS benefit costs as a share of workers' taxable earnings is projected to increase by 53%, so expect such an increase in the current 6.2% SS tax rate over the next 20 years. (The alternative is to cut benefits).

Also, Disability is nearly insolvent now; hardly surprising as the Obama Administration has used it to move people out of the workforce for two purposes: Income Redistribution and to lower Unemployment Stats.

However, the Disability Insurance (DI) program satisfies neither the long-range test nor the short-range test. DI costs have exceeded non-interest income since 2005, and the Trustees project trust fund exhaustion in 2016, two years earlier than projected last year. The DI program faces the most immediate financing shortfall of any of the separate trust funds; thus lawmakers need to act soon to avoid reduced payments to DI beneficiaries four years from now.

The quotes are from:

A SUMMARY OF THE 2012 ANNUAL REPORTS
Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees

Trustees Report Summary

 

[Moonglow]

I don't hear any bitching about a 510 billion dollar defense budget.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Those of you who believe that SS is broke or going broke or won't be there when you retire ................

What are you doing to be be able to support yourself in your, er, uh, Sunset Years? Do you have a goal year when you plan to retire and plan to be able to do that?

Seriously, instead of just whining, get on the stick and take care of yourself instead of hoping the government will hold your hand.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Why Social Security Cannot Go Bankrupt - Forbes

Social Security is not bankrupt.

The money owed Social security does not exist. We spend almost 2 trillion a year in deficits. Social Security is bankrupt.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Those of you that earn a check for a living, you may realize that your social security taxes took a hike this last pay period. how convinient Obama. fiscal cliff here we come.

A couple years ago the Obama administration instituted what was then called a "payroll tax holiday". They TEMPORARILY reduced the FICA deduction by 2% for everyone paying FICA. When it was time for it to end, the economy was still in recession, so it was extended until Dec. 31, 2012. Which is why it went back to the rate it had previously been at before President Obama originally lowered it.

If you're gonna give him shit for raising it, at least give him credit it for having lowered it in the first place.

Nah.

Don't give him credit for the tax cuts either.

Blame him for gas prices going up but not for going down.

Blame him for BUSH's debt being high but don't give him credit for lowering it.

Blame him for BUSH's high unemployment but don't credit him for the jobs his policies create.

The list goes on and on.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

As usual, the right is allergic to facts.

 

[Meister]

Those of you who believe that SS is broke or going broke or won't be there when you retire ................

What are you doing to be be able to support yourself in your, er, uh, Sunset Years? Do you have a goal year when you plan to retire and plan to be able to do that?

Seriously, instead of just whining, get on the stick and take care of yourself instead of hoping the government will hold your hand.

Y'all just need to work longer before you qualify and just down the road a bit you'll have a reduction in benefits....even Ted Kennedy talked about the long term outlook for SS.

Seems that our government has raided the kitty much too often without paying it back.

 

[AmazonTania]

Those of you who believe that SS is broke or going broke or won't be there when you retire ................

What are you doing to be be able to support yourself in your, er, uh, Sunset Years?

Saving money...

Do you have a goal year when you plan to retire and plan to be able to do that?

Saving money OUTSIDE the United States...

Seriously, instead of just whining, get on the stick and take care of yourself instead of hoping the government will hold your hand.

I expect the Government to try and hold my hand, even when I do not want them to.

 

[Flopper]

Those of you that earn a check for a living, you may realize that your social security taxes took a hike this last pay period. how convinient Obama. fiscal cliff here we come.

As far I can tell, you're wrong on both counts. Social Security went up 6 months ago, not in the last pay check. In fact, the government didn't really raise the tax, the payroll tax holiday just expired and the rates returned to the same rate, 6.2% that it has been since 1990.

Social Security is of course not bankrupt and never will be.