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Mr. Zuckerberg is 1 in 40 million though. He lucked out. He happened to have the right idea at the right place at the right time. That is really what it comes down to.
Mr. Zuckerberg stole his idea from a couple of classmates.
I'm over 50 and I've argued to get the country on the right track we likely need to cut everything.
Personally, I think deficit spending is not the panacea it is made out to be. Government can always be made more efficient, sure, but cutting for the sake of reducing deficits is meaningless. So in that context, I consider myself a Medicare / SS supporter.
But reducing the deficit is the fad in politics right now, and politicians have people believing that SS/ Medicare must be paid for by WAGE taxes, or else. (this is bull, but people believe it.) So in that twisted reality I'm forced to play along with the premise that we must cut it -- which in my book means making cuts that affect everyone , or cuts that affect no one. So I'm asking you specifically if you'd cut or eliminate your own Medicare.... when you say "cut everything" this is dodging the question.
Personally, I think deficit spending is not the panacea it is made out to be.
But reducing the deficit is the fad in politics right now, so I'll play along with the premise that we must cut. If so, I'm asking you specifically if you'd cut or eliminate your own Medicare.... when you say "cut everything" this is dodging the question.
Yes. I have made my plans to not expect S.S. also. If I get any of it back, great but I plan on being able to retire without it.
Location: Just transplanted to FL from the N GA mountains
3,997 posts, read 4,144,523 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by le roi
Personally, I think deficit spending is not the panacea it is made out to be.
But reducing the deficit is the fad in politics right now, so I'll play along with the premise that we must cut. If so, I'm asking you specifically if you'd cut or eliminate your own Medicare.... when you say "cut everything" this is dodging the question.
I would eliminate medicare and social security. The only thing that I would ask is that the six digit figure that I've paid in for the two of us be returned to us. And before you tell me that that money is gone.. I know that. So how are you going to propose that we let people who have been forced to pay into a system for 30+ years, promised the benefits for those forced payments, and who have yet to draw a penny, withdrawal from the system? Is it fair to them to say... "oops... we lost your 200K... now be quiet, retire, and go eat your Alpo." At least I'm not being like the IRS and adding penalties and interest to the amount they would owe me. The younger generation would of course need their funds back too, I'm not advocating ripping anyone off.. You figure that one out... and perhaps you should run for president. You'd have my vote.
I would eliminate medicare and social security. The only thing that I would ask is that the six digit figure that I've paid in for the two of us be returned to us. And before you tell me that that money is gone.. I know that. So how are you going to propose that we let people who have been forced to pay into a system for 30+ years, promised the benefits for those forced payments, and who have yet to draw a penny, withdrawal from the system? Is it fair to them to say... "oops... we lost your 200K... now be quiet, retire, and go eat your Alpo." At least I'm not being like the IRS and adding penalties and interest to the amount they would owe me. The younger generation would of course need their funds back too, I'm not advocating ripping anyone off.. You figure that one out... and perhaps you should run for president. You'd have my vote.
But yet you say its fair to say to the next generation "Oh Hai...you are going to have to pay in 200K, but we are going to be honest with you you will not see a dime. This is because we paid in 200K and want it back, it is only fair you know?" and if not who is going to pay all these people except for perpetually growing the debt and passing it on to generation after generation. The fact is we need to do something to fix SS now such as expanding the payment pool to make sure it is stable for all future generations, or we need to ease on out with everyone taking a haircut.
Basically the only plan I have heard on the right for "reforming" social securities is that 55+ get a golden parachute plan subsidized by saps er..."future beneficiaries" who get some unknown benefit.
Last edited by Randomstudent; 03-18-2013 at 07:30 AM..
Location: Just transplanted to FL from the N GA mountains
3,997 posts, read 4,144,523 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Randomstudent
But yet you say its fair to say to the next generation "Oh Hai...you are going to have to pay in 200K, but we are going to be honest with you you will not see a dime. This is because we paid in 200K and want it back, it is only fair you know?" and if not who is going to pay all these people except for perpetually growing the debt and passing it on to generation after generation. The fact is we need to do something to fix SS now such as expanding the payment pool to make sure it is stable for all future generations, or we need to ease on out.
NO.. I did not say it was fair to you. It isn't fair to anyone. I've been hearing about how SS wasn't going to be there for me for years, but I don't have any choice but to pay it... do you? So once again.. instead of blaming me, being argumentative and generally being nasty just because you can, tell me how YOU would fix it. Be fair now. Take all the generations into consideration. And take into consideration the amount those generations have paid in. And take into consideration that most of us geezers are not in congress. We didn't put you in debt. We didn't want to be in debt either.
I agree with that to some extent. The "bottom of the ladder" in today's economy is an unpaid internship.
So true. And college students are lining up to take those unpaid internships.
We're shooting ourselves in the foot by succumbing to lowered expectations.
I would eliminate medicare and social security. The only thing that I would ask is that the six digit figure that I've paid in for the two of us be returned to us.
And before you tell me that that money is gone.. I know that. So how are you going to propose that we let people who have been forced to pay into a system for 30+ years, promised the benefits for those forced payments, and who have yet to draw a penny, withdrawal from the system?
From a purely self-interested perspective, sure, that'd work fine for me. Eliminate SS/Medicare, and just write a check from the treasury that refunds a lifetime of everyone's FICA taxes. Add that cost to the deficit.
But realistically that will never happen. The reason it won't is because of elderly healthcare. An average retiree would receive a check for $80,000 in lieu of Medicare, and $350k in lieu of social security.
The $350k for social security would maybe be adequate for retirement, I don't know. The problem is with the $80k in healthcare. $80k doesn't go very far in today's hospitals, and you'd see seniors immediately burn through their Medicare contributions, and their social security nugget would be used to provide healthcare.
Then you really WOULD see old folks eating alpo and dying on the street.
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