Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hey, I'm not asking for free money...I just want what the gov't forced me every two weeks for over 40 years to pay, back in my pocket.
This isn't a rose by any other name is still a rose. This was and is my money.
Lets make a deal. Give me back what I paid in and we'll call it even.
This whole debate is silly. The Social security system for the average person who works until his mid 60s is supposed to be a self sustaining system. Unfortunately it has had some difficulties as it was a program designed in the 1930s that did not anticipate the drastically longer lifespans of modern humans or the baby boom.
Its a non-voluntary system that everyone is taxed for. Of course people will expect a decent return for the money they paid for 40+ years.
Social Security is an insurance program. You can call it an entitlement but it's not on the same field as welfare.
The program just doesn't work as it stands. It needs to be modified or abolished.
I'm a fan of a lot of the things that Chris Christie has done for the state, but he's far from perfect. On this issue, he's way out of line. The government should pay back everything it borrowed from the SS fund, and then privatize SS completely. Let the private industry run it like any other insurance program.
Just like they should do with the pensions correct? Pay back everything they missed and return the management of the money in the funds to the workers which over 35+ years had an average return of 8.9%.
The term "entitlement" did not have negative connotations until the 1960s. In the 1940's post WW2, it was a positive that related to a benefit earned. It was used in reference to the G.I. Bill and the "entitlements" it provided to the veterans such as the education benefits. It wasn't until the 1960's and Pres. Johnson's Great Society that the word "entitlement" became a negative term to be associated with a benefit not earned such as welfare and food stamps.
Today, politicians have continued to use the term "entitlement" to encompass all social programs whether they are earned benefits such as Social Security or unearned such as welfare. This makes it very easy for them to demonize "entitlements" and slip Social Security into that group. It also makes it easy to switch from unearned to earned entitlements in the same conversation without every really poking the sacred cow.
As to the anticipation of the baby boom. Maybe the originators of the 1930's legislation never anticipated the baby boom, but politicians have been kicking that can down the road for the last 60 years. It's not as if we all fell from the sky one day.
Of course Christie would not want to lift the cap on the earnings taxed as that affects the rich (his class of people) the most. However, removing benefits from the middle would have no effect on the rich (his class) as they probably don't need it, whereas the folks that will really get pinched are the ones that put money aside because they didn't work for a mega corp with a great pension plan or the govt. The people that will really suffer are the small business owners. Another way to stick it to small business.
All the politicians agree the SS is going broke, yet they don't publicize how the government has been using it as a slush fund for years on any thing they choose.
The elephant in the room is that there isn't enough SS for everyone. Let the Republicans into office to fix this mess. The country needs to wean-off SS.
Its a non-voluntary system that everyone is taxed for. Of course people will expect a decent return for the money they paid for 40+ years.
Why would they expect that? Let's clear up a few things:
1) Social Security is not an investment. It is insurance. You don't earn a "return" on Social Security.
2) Social Security is not paid for by FICA taxes. That is a lie. Social Security is funded through a government agency. The Federal Government as we know is monetarily sovereign; it creates it's own sovereign currency at will, with the only limitation being an inflation that cannot be cured by raising interest rates (which it also controls). It is impossible for the Federal Government, thus Social Security, to ever be bankrupt.
3) Chris Christie is pandering to the donor class. Cutting Social Security is the 1%'s goal, as it widens the gap between themselves and everyone else.
4) To reiterate, there is no Social Security crisis. It is all lies and politics.
Why would they expect that? Let's clear up a few things:
1) Social Security is not an investment. It is insurance. You don't earn a "return" on Social Security.
2) Social Security is not paid for by FICA taxes. That is a lie. Social Security is funded through a government agency. The Federal Government as we know is monetarily sovereign; it creates it's own sovereign currency at will, with the only limitation being an inflation that cannot be cured by raising interest rates (which it also controls). It is impossible for the Federal Government, thus Social Security, to ever be bankrupt.
3) Chris Christie is pandering to the donor class. Cutting Social Security is the 1%'s goal, as it widens the gap between themselves and everyone else.
4) To reiterate, there is no Social Security crisis. It is all lies and politics.
Christie is talking about means testing social security payments. Not sure how that panders to the 1%.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
SS is a slush fund for our politicians
