U.S. Taxpayers on the Hook for $9.7 Trillion

[ScreamingEagle]

In a nutshell the real problem is Dimwit President Franklin Roosevelt signed up Social Security in 1935 and then another Dimwit President Lynden Johnson signed up Medicare in 1965...and both were mismanaged by all the financial dimwits in Congress...

the result now being an "entitlement" society that is going bankrupt...

....and the Dimwits of today think BO is solving things with even more spending....

 

[Charles_Main]

Social security did not bankrupt itself.

The boomers not only paid for the debts that had been developing from their father's generation, but they also more than paid for their own retirements.

The problem is health care.

NOBODY who is just a working stiff (and that includes even people who most of you think of as well off) can really fund the staggering cost of their medical care in later life.

The Problem is more than Health care. The problem is money is missing from the slush fund, to the tune of 2 Trillion. The problem is SS is no longer just SS. It is now also SSI, and SDI, etc. Millions of people who never really worked, because of disabilities are collecting from a system that was suppose to be pay as you go.

Hell get this. My mother divorced my father 25 years ago, but because she was not remarried for more than 10 years. When my father died, she began collecting 1500 a month from SS for my dad. A surviver benefit they call it. Caused a big fight between me and my mom, as my mom left my dad for another man, and he did not want, and would have been mad to know, she was collection 1500 a month from his SS. the funniest thing is she had no idea she was eligible for it, and would have never thought to collect it. SS actually contacted her to tell her she was eligible for the money.

It is things like this that are why SS is bankrupt. It was meant to be a retirement program in which payers paid in, then retired and collected back. If that was still all it was, it would not be in trouble. The problem is SS went from a pay as you go retirement security plan, to a Welfare program that supports Millions of people who never paid in, or who paid in far less than they will collect out of it.

 

[indago]

The problem is money is missing from the slush fund, to the tune of 2 Trillion. The problem is SS is no longer just SS. It is now also SSI, and SDI, etc. Millions of people who never really worked, because of disabilities are collecting from a system that was suppose to be pay as you go.

REVIEW

 

[user_name_guest]

How many days did it take to pass nearly a trillion dollars? I bet Enron would have done the same thing with that kind of money. Maybe we should tell Washington to cut their salaries to $1. Michael Jordan did it when he played for the Washington Wizards. They should pay 99.99995% of their salaries to fund this bailout. How many people in Washington? If they want to help America. They could start first. They could work for free because they care about all Americans. They really want to help us. They will put all their eggs for one year to show their confidence in the stimulus. Would members in government do such a thing. They are so confident that the stimulus is going to work. They cannot go wrong. If MJ could play for a $1, why can't Washington? They don't need those salaries anyways. They went to Washington to represent the American people, not put money in their wallets. They aren't about greed. The money they are paid should fund this stimulus. After all, if it is going to take them 2 weeks, they shouldn't be paid the other 50 weeks. And what if this stimulus package doesn't work, could we disabled Washington and overthrow it? It sounds like a great idea because what better way to actually bring change. Boston Celtics got change. Will the government ever change?

 

[mash107]

true guest, but yeah, instead congress went,

" oh look at that, our economy is in the shitter. let's hike our pay. but we need to pay for this somehow..... oh well, some poor sap will have to lose their job in the private market to pay for my raise. "

 

[Meister]

Social security did not bankrupt itself.

The boomers not only paid for the debts that had been developing from their father's generation, but they also more than paid for their own retirements.

The problem is health care.

NOBODY who is just a working stiff (and that includes even people who most of you think of as well off) can really fund the staggering cost of their medical care in later life.

Social Security didn't bankrupt itself..the damn politicians kept raiding the kitty. Said they would pay it back....just like a politician.
Sorry about healthcare...it's not the governments job to create universal healthcare. It can be done in the private sector with tax incentives. It would be run a hell of a lot more efficiently in the private sector than by our damn greedy government. They fuck up everything they touch...except for the Military.

 

[Chris]

Not to worry.....Americans are getting so fat that many will not live to collect SS.

 

[Meister]

Not to worry.....Americans are getting so fat that many will not live to collect SS.

Chris, did your Mother have any children that lived??? Your a MORON

 

[Chris]

Basically, your saying that we should reduce benefits, because the vast majority of people now collect substantially more than they put in. The biggest problem with this is that the people who would be affected the most would be lower income earners. Higher income earners would not be affected because they have other retirement resources. In the end, those lower income earners would be in much worse shape which would create the need for government to find additional funding for these retirees, and that puts us right back to square one.

Actually, it would stop unintentional increases in SS. If you think about it, every time your life expectancy increases, the total you will receive from SS increases, and it's this unintentional increase that has gotten SS in trouble. Now we all know the only way to deal with the expected shortfall in SS is to either raise taxes or reduce benefits or raise the retirement age. I'm suggesting a mechanism that would automatically make the age/benefit adjustment without requiring continuing acts of Congress on a crisis basis.

If SS had originally been set up this way, it never would have gotten in trouble, but neither would it have been a very popular idea at the time because hardly anyone was expected to live long enough to collect very much then. How do you think it would have been received by the public if FDR had said, "Look, I've got this great idea. You'll pay taxes to fund a retirement benefit all through your working life, and then you'll retire and collect a small benefit for a few months before you die"? Would that have gotten him a third term?

The problem is that most people still want to retire at 65. On top of that, there is still that problem of comapnies wanting their employees to retire at 65 because of the increased costs of health insurance. The insurance issue must first be addressed, and then the retirement age needs to be raised gradually to 70 or 71.

Agree.

They should also raise the retirement age for the military.

We pay for these pilots training, and then they quit and go to work for the airlines making $100,000 a year and collect money from the government.