Social Security is Not a Ponzi Scheme, Mr. Perry

[Oddball]

I would hardly call a trillion plus dollar surplus "broke". Can it(SS) meet i's obligations after 2037? That depends.

When the only entity on the planet that can redeem the assets is the US $1T annual deficit government, it's not a "Surplus", it's a Ponzi scheme

"I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it" Barack "Social Security Really is Bankrupt" Obama, the Downgraded President

The Secretary of Treasury decides what bills are paid but the Republicans trying to make the government default makes my point in the previous post that with Republicans in control it(SS) might be a scheme but not with Democrats.

Oh, look!....It's Cleopatra!

 

[signelect]

Congress stole my SS money back in the 60's and used it for their own ends both parties. If a company had done that somebody would have gone to jail. My kids and grand kids will pay for my retirement and if that isn't a ponzi scheme you are either a mental defect or just plain crazy. Liberals have never seen someone else s money that they didn't like.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

When the only entity on the planet that can redeem the assets is the US $1T annual deficit government, it's not a "Surplus", it's a Ponzi scheme

"I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it" Barack "Social Security Really is Bankrupt" Obama, the Downgraded President

The Secretary of Treasury decides what bills are paid but the Republicans trying to make the government default makes my point in the previous post that with Republicans in control it(SS) might be a scheme but not with Democrats.

Oh, look!....It's Cleopatra!

 

[clevergirl]

GOPers may intend on defrauding the elderly,which fits the GOP MO bit Democrats plan on meeting their obligations.

The may plan on it....but it rarely materializes.

Just remember....intentions are more valuable then results.

Social Security has not added one dime to the national debt and has a trillion plus dollar surplus and is solvent to 2037.

Depends on your math and your understanding of SS. Right now, SS can pay only 73 cents on the dollar. Current workers are making up the shortfall. In order to balance out the shortfall either a tax increase to workers and employers must happen, a cut in benefits, or a raise in the retirement age (which is also technically a cut in benefits).

In other words it IS going broke unless something is done.

Phasing out the program is also an option-

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

For the SS is not a Ponzi scheme crowd.

One, a Ponzi scheme collects money from new investors and uses it to pay previous investors—minus a fee. But Social Security collects money from new investors, uses some of it to pay previous investors, and spends the surplus on programs for politically favored groups—minus the cost of supporting a massive bureaucracy. Over the years, trillions of dollars have been spent on these groups and bureaucrats. Two, participation in Ponzi schemes is voluntary. Not so with Social Security. The government automatically withholds payroll taxes and “invests” them for you.
Three: When a Ponzi scheme can’t con new investors in sufficient numbers to pay the previous investors, it collapses. But when Social Security runs low on investors—also called poor working stiffs—it raises taxes.

Social Security is Not a Ponzi Scheme, Mr. Perry - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine

LOL your title doesn't mesh with the content of the first post, I LIKE IT!



Its not a ponzie scheme, its even worse!

 

[whitehall]

There is no locked box. Since LBJ the federal government has used FICA taxes to fund other projects. What else do you call it if not a Ponzi scheme.

 

[Liability]

Social Security is a Ponzi scheme!!! was the Right's lament back in 1983 too.

Then Reagan AND the Democrats fixed it.

Ponzi ponzi ponzi is nothing more than baseless rightwing fearmongering.

No. It is a slight bit of hyperbole concealing a very ugly underlying truth.

And it's the fact that the claim is founded upon truth that burns your lib ass so badly.

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

There is no locked box. Since LBJ the federal government has used FICA taxes to fund other projects. What else do you call it if not a Ponzi scheme.

If SS is a Ponzi scheme then so is any insurance product.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Dick Cheney stated that of course SS is not a ponzi scheme in reponse to Perry's inane comments.

You want to isolate the center from the GOP in this election, guys?

Continue with this argument and the GOP will lose across the board.

 

[eflatminor]

For the SS is not a Ponzi scheme crowd.

One, a Ponzi scheme collects money from new investors and uses it to pay previous investors—minus a fee. But Social Security collects money from new investors, uses some of it to pay previous investors, and spends the surplus on programs for politically favored groups—minus the cost of supporting a massive bureaucracy. Over the years, trillions of dollars have been spent on these groups and bureaucrats. Two, participation in Ponzi schemes is voluntary. Not so with Social Security. The government automatically withholds payroll taxes and “invests” them for you.
Three: When a Ponzi scheme can’t con new investors in sufficient numbers to pay the previous investors, it collapses. But when Social Security runs low on investors—also called poor working stiffs—it raises taxes.

Social Security is Not a Ponzi Scheme, Mr. Perry - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine

I'm sorry, are you making a case FOR Social Security? Because after reading your post, it sound WORSE than a Ponzi scheme.

 

[bripat9643]

Social Security is a Ponzi scheme!!! was the Right's lament back in 1983 too.

Then Reagan AND the Democrats fixed it.

Ponzi ponzi ponzi is nothing more than baseless rightwing fearmongering.

If they "fixed it," then why is it still broken? Mulcting the suckers for more cash doesn't fix a Ponzi scheme. You never fix it. You only make it bigger and screw people even worse than they have already been screwed.

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

Social Security is a Ponzi scheme!!! was the Right's lament back in 1983 too.

Then Reagan AND the Democrats fixed it.

Ponzi ponzi ponzi is nothing more than baseless rightwing fearmongering.

If they "fixed it," then why is it still broken? Mulcting the suckers for more cash doesn't fix a Ponzi scheme. You never fix it. You only make it bigger and screw people even worse than they have already been screwed.

It isn't. Its never missed a payment.

 

[JakeStarkey]

SS is not a ponzi scheme and bripat knows not of what he writes.

 

[bripat9643]

Social Security is a Ponzi scheme!!! was the Right's lament back in 1983 too.

Then Reagan AND the Democrats fixed it.

Ponzi ponzi ponzi is nothing more than baseless rightwing fearmongering.

If they "fixed it," then why is it still broken? Mulcting the suckers for more cash doesn't fix a Ponzi scheme. You never fix it. You only make it bigger and screw people even worse than they have already been screwed.

It isn't. Its never missed a payment.

They reneged on the terms of the deal. It's bankrupt. Bernie Madoff also never missed a payment.

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

SS is not a ponzi scheme and bripat knows not of what he writes.

Ponzi scheme - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors, not from any actual profit earned by the organization, but from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors. The Ponzi scheme usually entices new investors by offering returns other investments cannot guarantee, in the form of short-term returns that are either abnormally high or unusually consistent. The perpetuation of the returns that a Ponzi scheme advertises and pays requires an ever-increasing flow of money from investors to keep the scheme going.

The system is destined to collapse because the earnings, if any, are less than the payments to investors."

Are you sure he got it wrong?

sounds VERY similar to Social Security to me.

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

If they "fixed it," then why is it still broken? Mulcting the suckers for more cash doesn't fix a Ponzi scheme. You never fix it. You only make it bigger and screw people even worse than they have already been screwed.

It isn't. Its never missed a payment.

They reneged on the terms of the deal.

No they didn't.

It's bankrupt.

No it isn't. The biggest portion of it - OASI - has $2.335 trillion in Treasury assets - UP from last year.

Trustees Report Summary

OASI also has annual revenues of over 600 billion dollars.

Sorry but its far from bankrupt.

Bernie Madoff also never missed a payment.

 

[clevergirl]

It isn't. Its never missed a payment.

They reneged on the terms of the deal.

No they didn't.

It's bankrupt.

No it isn't. The biggest portion of it - OASI - has $2.335 trillion in Treasury assets - UP from last year.

Trustees Report Summary

OASI also has annual revenues of over 600 billion dollars.

Sorry but its far from bankrupt.

Bernie Madoff also never missed a payment.

GAWD I hate the ridiculous gymnastics needed to pretend that SS is a "good program". It is NOT bankrupt, but it is currently underfunded.

The only way to correct the problem is to raise employment taxes; raise the retirement age; or cut benefits. This MEANS that SS is currently insolvent and will bankrupt if something isn't done.


Phasing it out is also an option.

SS ought to at least be an opt in program, instead of a forced in one.

 

[JakeStarkey]

SS is not a ponzi scheme and bripat knows not of what he writes.

Ponzi scheme - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors, not from any actual profit earned by the organization, but from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors. The Ponzi scheme usually entices new investors by offering returns other investments cannot guarantee, in the form of short-term returns that are either abnormally high or unusually consistent. The perpetuation of the returns that a Ponzi scheme advertises and pays requires an ever-increasing flow of money from investors to keep the scheme going.

The system is destined to collapse because the earnings, if any, are less than the payments to investors."

Are you sure he got it wrong?

sounds VERY similar to Social Security to me.

clevergirl's concern is addressed here. The money is more than sufficient if the Congress would keep its hands off of it, Dem and Pub congresses alike. Leave the funding alone, and the ship will right itself.

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

The only way to correct the problem is to raise employment taxes; raise the retirement age; or cut benefits. This MEANS that SS is currently insolvent and will bankrupt if something isn't done.

No, it doesn't mean its currently insolvent. You either don't understand what the word "insolvent" means or what the word "currently" means.

Phasing it out is also an option.

No it isn't.

SS ought to at least be an opt in program, instead of a forced in one.

Your state or local government is free to provide you a substitute program. The teachers into Louisiana pay into the states retirement fund - not SS. The entire city of Galveston, TX, also has opted out.

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

SS is not a ponzi scheme and bripat knows not of what he writes.

Ponzi scheme - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors, not from any actual profit earned by the organization, but from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors. The Ponzi scheme usually entices new investors by offering returns other investments cannot guarantee, in the form of short-term returns that are either abnormally high or unusually consistent. The perpetuation of the returns that a Ponzi scheme advertises and pays requires an ever-increasing flow of money from investors to keep the scheme going.

The system is destined to collapse because the earnings, if any, are less than the payments to investors."

Are you sure he got it wrong?

sounds VERY similar to Social Security to me.

clevergirl's concern is addressed here. The money is more than sufficient if the Congress would keep its hands off of it, Dem and Pub congresses alike. Leave the funding alone, and the ship will right itself.

That is true but their raiding the social security funds (both parties over history) are what makes it look very similar to a ponzie scheme.

Good point though!