Social Security Reforms (Congress, Iraq, salary, generation)

[Greatday]

From the State of the Union address:

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid
Every member in this chamber knows that spending on entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is growing faster than we can afford. And we all know the painful choices ahead if America stays on this path: massive tax increases, sudden and drastic cuts in benefits, or crippling deficits. I have laid out proposals to reform these programs. Now I ask members of Congress to offer your proposals and come up with a bipartisan solution to save these vital programs for our children and grandchildren.

Question: Will members of congress step up and offer alternative solutions to the Presidents?

[GregW]

I'll offer a simple proposal - Eliminate the restriction on the tax and apply it to ALL income from all sources. Simple and would support all these expenditures without imposing any tangible strain on the society.

The concept that we can afford an endless war to protect the investments in Iraq but not be able to support our elderly is a complete absurdity. Talk about Orwellian double think. This is a fine example.

[Greatday]

Originally Posted by GregW1

I'll offer a simple proposal - Eliminate the restriction on the tax and apply it to ALL income from all sources. Simple and would support all these expenditures without imposing any tangible strain on the society.

The question is - will the Members of Congress have the guts (read Democrats) to offer a reform proposal.

My guess is - no

[NCN]

The problem came about when our social security was used for something other than social security. When you have paid into something for years how is that all of a sudden something that may not be there. Most of us do not get social security for very long and tapping into it to pay for other things puts our hard earned dollars at risk. We will still be paying taxes because of our other investments. I think our generation is being cheated. Think about how much you pay in for social security and multiply that by 28 years in my case and tell me why there isn't enough to go around.

Sorry, I forgot all those other jobs I have had. I just retired from a job I had been on for 28 years. When you look at how people vote, you realize that most people do not know enough about money or anything else to take care of their own account. If Social Security is run right, it is a very good thing.

[NCN]

Originally Posted by GregW1

I'll offer a simple proposal - Eliminate the restriction on the tax and apply it to ALL income from all sources. Simple and would support all these expenditures without imposing any tangible strain on the society.

The concept that we can afford an endless war to protect the investments in Iraq but not be able to support our elderly is a complete absurdity. Talk about Orwellian double think. This is a fine example.

I would have no problem with paying tax on all sources of income. We are doing much better than our children and I don't want to drain them to have an easy retirement. I have always wondered why money that my money makes is any different than money I got when I earned it. Income is income!

[Rita Mordio]

Originally Posted by NCN

Think about how much you pay in for social security and multiply that by 28 years in my case and tell me why there isn't enough to go around.

Well, when I go to retire in 2054 - I'll have put into SS for 51 years. I'd much rather have that money in my OWN retirement account. As part of a self-project, I'm keeping track of all taxes taken out of my paycheck... and have been doing so since the day I got my first job.

Let's just say that for SS - I'd be able to buy a brand new luxury car for what I've put in so far! And it's not been 5 years yet! Mind you, I've only been making decent money for a year - before that it was low paying jobs ((<$9/hr))

But back to topic - I don't think anyone in Congress would be willing to stand alone and do something... they're much happier criticizing.

[GregW]

Kuhari - suppose that all of the money is indeed in your own retirement account. Now suppose that the account is invested in a speculative market that collapses to the extent that the brokerage houses and banks are bankrupt. Most of you savings are wiped out and you have nothing left for your retirement and you cannot pay for food, cloths and shelter.

I trust my government much more than an unstable economic system that has a history of taking people’s savings and never paying them back. This is what actually happened in the 1930's. Social security is an INSURANCE system to protect the prudent people against complete economic failure. With social Security and the other government support in place you will not be left to get sick without care, starve without money for food and be evicted from your residence because you cannot pay rent, mortgage of local taxes. The absolute opposite of Social Security is to vulnerable to getting sick and starving in the freezing dark. I, for one, do not want to take that risk and there are a lot of people like me that do not want to either.

[katzenfreund]

Originally Posted by NCN

The problem came about when our social security was used for something other than social security. When you have paid into something for years how is that all of a sudden something that may not be there. Most of us do not get social security for very long and tapping into it to pay for other things puts our hard earned dollars at risk. We will still be paying taxes because of our other investments. I think our generation is being cheated. Think about how much you pay in for social security and multiply that by 28 years in my case and tell me why there isn't enough to go around.

By the time my husband collects SS he will have worked and paid into it 49 years. He better darn well get something. Already he's paid into it for 27 years.... we also save with IRA's and 401K, but those 401K's can go down the tube and IRA's don't have a big return, probably barely keep up with the REAL inflation.

They need to start collecting SS on all income.

[NewToCA]

Medicare and Medicaid are the programs with significant anticipated funding shortfalls, not Social Security. The focus of this discussion is on the wrong program. As discussed many time before, the funding is sufficient until the 2040 plus timeframe, and at this time the long term shortfall can be fixed with adjustments of less than 2% of income.

Medicare and Medicaid have the major funding shortfalls, not Social Security (see pg 13 in attachment).

http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d071189cg.pdf

[Rita Mordio]

Originally Posted by GregW1

Kuhari - suppose that all of the money is indeed in your own retirement account. Now suppose that the account is invested in a speculative market that collapses to the extent that the brokerage houses and banks are bankrupt. Most of you savings are wiped out and you have nothing left for your retirement and you cannot pay for food, cloths and shelter.

In your scenario, a government safety net is necessary.. But if the market were to crash tomorrow - I would be concerned.. but not for my retirement. I'm not set to retire for almost 50 years. In fact, I would probably take advantage of the bad market (oh wait, I am) and in 50 years when things are "back to normal," I'll be set.

But that's the risk you take by privatizing retirement. I think the people of America should each decide if they want to give tax dollars to the government system vice a personal/private one. Like Greatday has done, the ability to remove one's self from the system shouldn't be as difficult as he describes it to be.

I trust my government much more than an unstable economic system...

And that is the problem - we're more apt to trust the government.. so when they pull a fast one, we're blindsighted with the knowledge that Social Security funds are being constantly dipped into for other things.

Here's what that government has done:

Ida May Fuller worked for three years under the Social Security program. The accumulated taxes on her salary during those three years was a total of $24.75... During her lifetime she collected a total of $22,888.92 in Social Security benefits.