Social Security: Of Clouds and Silver Linings.

[PoliticalChic]

1. Once politicians learned that they could get away with ignoring the Constitution, many things changed, and not the least of them was the new relationship that the citizenry had with their government.
Which brings me to the current precipice on which Social Security hangs.

2. Social Security has a limited future….and was a bad idea from the start.

"The question here is not whether or not the intention of the SSA is beneficent, but whether or not its inception was properly vetted. The concept of a marketplace of ideas is based on the assumption that information is not buried or distorted, and all aspects of same are given access prior to acceptance of the plan."
Beck and Balfe, “Broke.”

When the 32nd President created Social Security:

No one considered that life expectancy would increase?

No one considered that the balance of workers and retirees might change?

No one calculated the long-term costs?


3. Roosevelt's bacon was pulled out of the fire by Ronald Reagan.
"Back in 1983, the Reagan administration addressed annual deficits with the Social Security program by passing a bipartisan piece of legislation (the Social Security Amendments of 1983) that tackled the program's problems from both sides of the political aisle.

The Amendments of 1983 are perhaps best known for the creation of the taxation of Social Security benefits, as well as passing along a gradual increase to the full retirement age – i.e., the age where you become eligible to receive 100% of your retirement benefit.

The taxation of Social Security benefits, which is something of a necessary evil, allowed the federal government to tax up to half of an individual's benefits. If one-half of an individual's Social Security benefits, plus his or her adjusted gross income, surpassed $25,000, his or her Social Security benefits became subject to taxation. For couples filing jointly, this figure was $32,000. The introduction of this tax was designed to raise additional revenue for the program, which is a path most often advocated for by Democrats on Capitol Hill.

...the Amendments of 1983 also passed along a gradual increase to the full retirement age. Set at age 65 back in 1983, the full retirement age will cap at age 67 by 2022 for those born in 1960 or later. This increase, which is something Republicans have long advocated for, takes into account increased longevity. It requires retirees to either wait longer to receive their full payout or to accept a steeper reduction in their payout by claiming early. Either way, it saves the program money over the long run.

These changes, along with an increase to the payroll tax on earned income, allowed Social Security to build up its aforementioned $2.9 trillion in asset reserves over the past 35 years."

The 1 Thing Nearly Everyone Forgets About Reagan's Social Security Reforms in 1983 | The Motley Fool

Though Reagan's bipartisan legislation extended the life of Social Security, it took a long time for lawmakers to finally act.

www.fool.com

4. "Thanks to COVID-19, Social Security’s day of reckoning may be even closer than we thought
Published: May 2, 2020 at 12:47 p.m. ET

A lot less money is coming in, and pretty soon, more will be going out

....Social Security is now dipping into its reserves—the so-called “trust fund”—to pay benefits. That’s because the system isn’t taking in enough cash from payroll taxes, which is how the gargantuan Social Security program—by far the single biggest source of federal spending—is financed."

Thanks to COVID-19, Social Security’s day of reckoning may be even closer than we thought

A lot less money is coming in, and pretty soon, more will be going out

www.marketwatch.com

"...there's no shortage of ways to fix Social Security and address its estimated $13.2 trillion cash shortfall between 2034 and 2092."

Could personal responsibility be one of the ways????

 

[Penelope]

I know , we are not paying into SS or Medicare now, and who does it benefit, the republicans and Tramp.

 

[PoliticalChic]

I know , we are not paying into SS or Medicare now, and who does it benefit, the republicans and Tramp.

Congrats! You've worked yourself all the way to "Triple Stupid"!

 

[Penelope]

I know , we are not paying into SS or Medicare now, and who does it benefit, the republicans and Tramp.

Congrats! You've worked yourself all the way to "Triple Stupid"!

Well they couldn't of planned it any better. Are you aware that the US Army investigates Bats and their immune system.

What bats are teaching us about immunity to viruses

Bats can host several viruses without ever developing symptoms—even Marburg and Ebola, both of which can be deadly to people. | Bats can host several viruses without ever developing symptoms—even Marburg and Ebola, both of which can be deadly to people. So what’s the secret to the bats’...

www.fiercebiotech.com

 

[PoliticalChic]

I know , we are not paying into SS or Medicare now, and who does it benefit, the republicans and Tramp.

Congrats! You've worked yourself all the way to "Triple Stupid"!

Well they couldn't of planned it any better. Are you aware that the US Army investigates Bats and their immune system.

What bats are teaching us about immunity to viruses

Bats can host several viruses without ever developing symptoms—even Marburg and Ebola, both of which can be deadly to people. | Bats can host several viruses without ever developing symptoms—even Marburg and Ebola, both of which can be deadly to people. So what’s the secret to the bats’...

www.fiercebiotech.com

Clearly, you are Ill-read, ill-informed, and emotionally ill-equipped to handle this discussion.

Haunt elsewhere.

 

[PoliticalChic]

5. The scam is that the Social Security payments are simply used the way taxes are….they’re not saved for you.
The politicians simply confiscate the funds and use them as they wish.....and let you wish they will be there when you retire, and in a quantity that will take care of your retirement.
There are better ways.

“…Al Gore, he campaigned for president in 2000 advocating the placement of Social Security taxes in the Social Security “lock box” to benefit future generations.” The Social Security Lock Box Hoax and the National Debt | HuffPost

There is no Social Security lock box.


Did you know this about Social Security: Social Security is subject to whatever rules the federal government makes, , and there is “not a guaranteed promise to pay any certain amount.”

That means it could be zero.






Sooo…..ya’ want ghost busters’ number?

 

[Penelope]

I know , we are not paying into SS or Medicare now, and who does it benefit, the republicans and Tramp.

Congrats! You've worked yourself all the way to "Triple Stupid"!

Well they couldn't of planned it any better. Are you aware that the US Army investigates Bats and their immune system.

What bats are teaching us about immunity to viruses

Bats can host several viruses without ever developing symptoms—even Marburg and Ebola, both of which can be deadly to people. | Bats can host several viruses without ever developing symptoms—even Marburg and Ebola, both of which can be deadly to people. So what’s the secret to the bats’...

www.fiercebiotech.com

Clearly, you are Ill-read, ill-informed, and emotionally ill-equipped to handle this discussion.

Haunt elsewhere.

You are just dying to do away with SS and Medicare , like the republicans , aren't you?

 

[miketx]

I know , we are not paying into SS or Medicare now, and who does it benefit, the republicans and Tramp.

My god you are an idiot!

 

[Penelope]

I know , we are not paying into SS or Medicare now, and who does it benefit, the republicans and Tramp.

My god you are an idiot!

I ask you who does it benefit??

 

[alang1216]

Could personal responsibility be one of the ways????

The answer is no, that is why we needed SS in the first place. Without it we'll again have seniors living in poverty. Again.

I have a friend who runs a retirement service for small businesses. An employer would use his firm to set up a 401K plan and the employer would match the employee's contribution up to a certain percent. When he first started out my friend would set up the plans as opt-in. If you did nothing you'd get nothing. What he found was that 65% of employees would not even match the contribution that the firm would then match. FREE MONEY LOST!! After a while the plans got changed to opt-out and almost no one opted out. It would be great if we all took personal responsibility but WE DON'T. Regardless of your ideology, society suffers when the elderly end up with no saving and pensions are now, for the most part, a thing of the past.

signed,
Publius

 

[PoliticalChic]

Could personal responsibility be one of the ways????

The answer is no, that is why we needed SS in the first place. Without it we'll again have seniors living in poverty. Again.

I have a friend who runs a retirement service for small businesses. An employer would use his firm to set up a 401K plan and the employer would match the employee's contribution up to a certain percent. When he first started out my friend would set up the plans as opt-in. If you did nothing you'd get nothing. What he found was that 65% of employees would not even match the contribution that the firm would then match. FREE MONEY LOST!! After a while the plans got changed to opt-out and almost no one opted out. It would be great if we all took personal responsibility but WE DON'T. Regardless of your ideology, society suffers when the elderly end up with no saving and pensions are now, for the most part, a thing of the past.

signed,
Publius

"Could personal responsibility be one of the ways????

The answer is no, that is why we needed SS in the first place."



Spoken like a dyed-in-the-wool statist, big-government Liberal.


Too bad you don't read books......this might have been an answer to your indoctrination.

Marvin Olasky, in "The Tragedy of American Compassion," explains that human needs were taken care of by other human beings- not by bureaucracies. The important difference was that the latter may take care of food and shelter...but the former also dealt with the human spirit and behavior.
Welfare programs today, are Liberal….conservatives don’t look for material solutions, but understand that changing values is what solves the problem of poverty..


And here is the major difference between current efforts and the earlier: charity was not handed out indiscriminately- "no prophane or diselut person, or openly scandelous shall have any pairt or portione herein."

The able-bodied were expected to find work, and if they chose not to, well....it was considered perfectly appropriate to press them to change their mind.
Olasky, "The Tragedy of American Compassion," chapter one.

Charles Chauncey, told members of the Society for Encouraging Industry, and Employing the Poor (Aug. 12. 1752), that they were "restrained as to the distribution of [their] charity; not being allowed to dispense it promiscuously, but obliged to take due Care to find out suitable Objects; distinguishing properly between those needy People who are able, and those who are unable, to employ themselves in Labour...."






It is based on a lack of understanding of human nature: those accepting largesse without working for same hate themselves, and learn to hate the giver as well.
"If you pick up a stray dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. That is the principal difference between dogs and men." Mark Twain.

 

[PoliticalChic]

6. This was a warning delivered in 2018…..before the Wuhan virus was ever known:



“…the one thing that everyone seems to overlook is how long it took Congress to finally tackle Social Security's issues in 1983. In each and every year between 1975 and 1981, Social Security experienced a net cash outflow – i.e., more benefits were paid to eligible beneficiaries than income collected.

Even more telling, the trust fund ratio -- a measure of Social Security's asset reserves at the end of the year divided by expenditures for that year, expressed as a percentage -- declined every year between 1970 and 1983. The program's trust fund ratio sank from 103% in 1969 and 1970, to just 14% by 1983.

…Congress knew for more than a decade prior to implementing the 1983 Amendments that Social Security was in trouble. The declining trust fund ratio cued them into this fact, and the net cash outflow beginning in 1975 confirmed it. Yet, lawmakers essentially waited until the last possible moment to fix Social Security in 1983.

Had they done nothing, the program would likely have needed to reduce benefits, which is the same outlook today's retirees and working-age Americans are facing by 2034. Though credited with saving Social Security, lawmakers had punted the issue so many times by 1983 that they finally had no choice but to address it.”
The 1 Thing Nearly Everyone Forgets About Reagan's Social Security Reforms in 1983 | The Motley Fool



With the sorely reduced supply of taxes coming in, this may be the impetus to reforming Social Security.

 

[PoliticalChic]

As the saying goes, nothing is certain except death and taxes.

Now….both may be attributed to the Chinese virus.




7. “Prior to the economic downturn—or collapse—that we’re now experiencing, the trust fund was projected to run out of money by 2035.

This has, practically overnight, gotten worse. Why? Because some 22 million Americans have lost their jobs in the last four weeks. This means there are a lot fewer—millions fewer—people paying those payroll taxes into the Social Security system.

And on top of a lot less money coming in, a lot more will soon be going out. That’s because people who are now out of work and eligible to draw benefits may soon do so, out of sheer economic need.

This one-two punch could mean the depletion of the trust fund sooner than 2035. How soon? Perhaps two years earlier—2033—estimates one of the country’s leading experts on Social Security, Alicia H. Munnell, the director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, and a MarketWatch columnist.



“We are going to lose a lot of payroll tax revenue this year,” Munnell says, while “expenditures keep at their regular pace, if not at an immediately higher pace, because older people who can’t find a job might turn to claiming early.”

This means the gap between what Social Security takes in and what it pays out—which, again was growing to begin with—will widen further. “The trust fund has been filling that gap,” Munnell adds, “but as that gap gets bigger, the trust fund will be used up faster.”

Thanks to COVID-19, Social Security’s day of reckoning may be even closer than we thought

A lot less money is coming in, and pretty soon, more will be going out

www.marketwatch.com

 

[alang1216]

"Could personal responsibility be one of the ways????

The answer is no, that is why we needed SS in the first place."

Spoken like a dyed-in-the-wool statist, big-government Liberal.

Too bad you don't read books......this might have been an answer to your indoctrination.

Spoken like a dyed-in-the-wool ideologue. Ignore what is actually happening to people and trust that you know what is best for others. Usually benign neglect after all it is the poor's fault for being poor.

Too bad you don't know SS. It was not conceived of as charity but assistance for the elderly and disabled, both of which suffered terribly in the Great Depression, paid for by their children (whose turn will come). Your links on charity for the able-bodied are straw men. I don't know of anyone supporting charity for the able-bodied.

 

[PoliticalChic]

"Could personal responsibility be one of the ways????

The answer is no, that is why we needed SS in the first place."

Spoken like a dyed-in-the-wool statist, big-government Liberal.

Too bad you don't read books......this might have been an answer to your indoctrination.

Spoken like a dyed-in-the-wool ideologue. Ignore what is actually happening to people and trust that you know what is best for others. Usually benign neglect after all it is the poor's fault for being poor.

Too bad you don't know SS. It was not conceived of as charity but assistance for the elderly and disabled, both of which suffered terribly in the Great Depression, paid for by their children (whose turn will come). Your links on charity for the able-bodied are straw men. I don't know of anyone supporting charity for the able-bodied.

"Spoken like a dyed-in-the-wool ideologue. "

You must continue to copy my writing style.....it is a dramatic improvement over your vanilla government school style.

 

[alang1216]

"Spoken like a dyed-in-the-wool ideologue. "

You must continue to copy my writing style.....it is a dramatic improvement over your vanilla government school style.

Thanks, I usually find you don't understand things unless there is an insult of some sort involved. Juvenile yes, but it seems to be what you prefer.

 

[PoliticalChic]

"Spoken like a dyed-in-the-wool ideologue. "

You must continue to copy my writing style.....it is a dramatic improvement over your vanilla government school style.

Thanks, I usually find you don't understand things unless there is an insult of some sort involved. Juvenile yes, but it seems to be what you prefer.

I'm simply the contemporary version of Karma.

I don't wait for it to catch up with you.

 

[alang1216]

I'm simply the contemporary version of Karma.

I don't wait for it to catch up with you.

Why does Boy George come to mind...

There's a loving in your eyes all the way
If I listen to your lies, would you say
I'm a man without conviction
I'm a man who doesn't know
How to sell a contradiction
You come and go, you come and go​

Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green​

Didn't you hear your wicked words every day
And you used to be so sweet, I heard you say
That my love was an addiction
When we cling, our love is strong
When you go, you're gone forever
You string along, you string along​

Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green​

Every day is like survival (survival)
You're my lover, not my rival
Every day is like survival (survival)
You're my lover, not my rival​

I'm a man without conviction
I'm a man who doesn't know
How to sell a contradiction
You come and go, you come and go​

Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green​

Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green​

Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green​

Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green​

 

[PoliticalChic]

8. Did I mention that Social Security is a scam????
Madoff would be proud of it!

“Social Security takes a whopping 12.4 percent of American workers’ [and employers'] paychecks, but a new backgrounder by The Heritage Foundation shows that workers are getting a bad deal from the program.
… Social Security typically provides very low—and in many cases, negative—rates of return.

The Heritage Foundation analysis shows that younger workers—even low-wage ones—would receive at least three times greater rates of return from private savings than Social Security will provide.”
3 Examples of How Social Security Robs Americans of Greater Income Before, During Retirement



“Heritage’s analysis compares what workers would receive if their payroll taxes were invested in personal accounts compared with what Social Security will provide under two scenarios:
1) current law, with roughly 20 percent benefit cuts beginning around 2034;
and 2) a scenario whereby payroll taxes rise immediately to a level necessary to pay the program’s prescribed benefits.

While virtually all workers—across income levels, both genders, and generations—would be far better off with personal savings than Social Security, younger workers get the worst deal from the government program.”
DailySignal, Op. Cit.


Here's where we get into exactly who Social Security actually helps.....and why it's a scam.

“The average young male worker is virtually guaranteed a negative rate of return from Social Security.”

A 23-yr-old with a salary of $60,000 “He will pay $547,088 in Social Security taxes (excluding disability insurance taxes) throughout his lifetime. In return, he will receive a monthly benefit of $2,209 in retirement.

If he instead invested that same amount—$547,088—in a conservative mix of stocks and bonds, he would accumulate more than $1.5 million in a retirement account and could use that to purchase a lifetime annuity that would pay him $6,185 per month, or nearly three times what Social Security will provide.”
3 Examples of How Social Security Robs Americans of Greater Income Before, During Retirement



But….if he had that control of the money, politicians would not be able to syphon off the money, and pretend that it goes into some ‘lock box’ reserved to pay him when he retires.
Who gets all the Social Security money.....

....and who gets a promise?

 

[alang1216]

8. Did I mention that Social Security is a scam????
Madoff would be proud of it!

“Social Security takes a whopping 12.4 percent of American workers’ [and employers'] paychecks, but a new backgrounder by The Heritage Foundation shows that workers are getting a bad deal from the program.
… Social Security typically provides very low—and in many cases, negative—rates of return.

The Heritage Foundation analysis shows that younger workers—even low-wage ones—would receive at least three times greater rates of return from private savings than Social Security will provide.”
3 Examples of How Social Security Robs Americans of Greater Income Before, During Retirement



“Heritage’s analysis compares what workers would receive if their payroll taxes were invested in personal accounts compared with what Social Security will provide under two scenarios:
1) current law, with roughly 20 percent benefit cuts beginning around 2034;
and 2) a scenario whereby payroll taxes rise immediately to a level necessary to pay the program’s prescribed benefits.

While virtually all workers—across income levels, both genders, and generations—would be far better off with personal savings than Social Security, younger workers get the worst deal from the government program.”
DailySignal, Op. Cit.


Here's where we get into exactly who Social Security actually helps.....and why it's a scam.

“The average young male worker is virtually guaranteed a negative rate of return from Social Security.”

A 23-yr-old with a salary of $60,000 “He will pay $547,088 in Social Security taxes (excluding disability insurance taxes) throughout his lifetime. In return, he will receive a monthly benefit of $2,209 in retirement.

If he instead invested that same amount—$547,088—in a conservative mix of stocks and bonds, he would accumulate more than $1.5 million in a retirement account and could use that to purchase a lifetime annuity that would pay him $6,185 per month, or nearly three times what Social Security will provide.”
3 Examples of How Social Security Robs Americans of Greater Income Before, During Retirement



But….if he had that control of the money, politicians would not be able to syphon off the money, and pretend that it goes into some ‘lock box’ reserved to pay him when he retires.
Who gets all the Social Security money.....

....and who gets a promise?

The reality is that only about 1/2 of Americans are in the stock market.