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Old 01-14-2008, 08:14 PM
 
229 posts, read 169,488 times
Reputation: 47

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Social Security was supposed to prevent poverty in the elderly. It was a program with good intentions. However, the rich and greedy have looted it, and now the government says it can't fund it. However, it can fund trillion dollar wars against countries that never attacked us. What the hell is going on in this country?
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Old 01-14-2008, 08:19 PM
 
Location: Sacramento
14,044 posts, read 27,139,035 times
Reputation: 7373
Quote:
Originally Posted by yakijy View Post
Social Security was supposed to prevent poverty in the elderly. It was a program with good intentions. However, the rich and greedy have looted it, and now the government says it can't fund it. However, it can fund trillion dollar wars against countries that never attacked us. What the hell is going on in this country?
The government didn't state they couldn't fund it, just needs to be modified a little. Posting #38 in this thread contains link to the sourced Social Security Trustees Report containing all funding information and analysis.
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Old 01-14-2008, 08:26 PM
 
229 posts, read 169,488 times
Reputation: 47
Default Just how do we decipher what to believe from our elected officials?

Quote:
Originally Posted by NewToCA View Post
The government didn't state they couldn't fund it, just needs to be modified a little. Posting #38 in this thread contains link to the sourced Social Security Trustees Report containing all funding information and analysis.
When Bush was making his big push to dismantle Social Security, you heard him and his supporters say over and over that Social Security was running out of money and could not continue pay out over the long haul, which is why they needed to replace it. More propaganda? Just how do we decipher what to believe from our elected officials?
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Old 01-14-2008, 08:35 PM
 
Location: Sacramento
14,044 posts, read 27,139,035 times
Reputation: 7373
You have to go and read the sourced reports, it takes a lot of effort to go through the numbers but the objective analysis by organizations is out there. That is about the single biggest benefit I have found in using the internet.

Politicians all have agendas. You have to take what they say, no matter the candidate, with a grain of salt and go look for the data. Kind of goes back to my questions in the Fair Tax thread, I keep seeing snippets of ideas, but I don't see a comprehensive critical analysis that I can dig into and see how the proposal is really put together and the impact.

But if you read the stuff linked in Post #38, it should give you some insights. It isn't an advocate report, it is an objective critical analysis with very specific numbers.
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Old 01-14-2008, 08:55 PM
 
229 posts, read 169,488 times
Reputation: 47
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewToCA View Post
You have to go and read the sourced reports, it takes a lot of effort to go through the numbers but the objective analysis by organizations is out there. That is about the single biggest benefit I have found in using the internet.

Politicians all have agendas. You have to take what they say, no matter the candidate, with a grain of salt and go look for the data. Kind of goes back to my questions in the Fair Tax thread, I keep seeing snippets of ideas, but I don't see a comprehensive critical analysis that I can dig into and see how the proposal is really put together and the impact.

But if you read the stuff linked in Post #38, it should give you some insights. It isn't an advocate report, it is an objective critical analysis with very specific numbers.
I get it. Either we increase payroll deductions to maintain current benefit levels, or reduce benefit levels. Fine, but the trillions squandered for a useless war could be used to create jobs, hence increase payroll deductions via new job creation. That the trillions have disappeared into corporate wealth has not helped the average American an iota.
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Old 01-14-2008, 09:00 PM
 
Location: Sacramento
14,044 posts, read 27,139,035 times
Reputation: 7373
Quote:
Originally Posted by yakijy View Post
I get it. Either we increase payroll deductions to maintain current benefit levels, or reduce benefit levels. Fine, but the trillions squandered for a useless war could be used to create jobs, hence increase payroll deductions via new job creation. That the trillions have disappeared into corporate wealth has not helped the average American an iota.
Two separate issues, with Social Security you can increase the contribution by employee and employer, alter the benefit formula, increase the contribution ceiling or increase the population paying into the system (or a combination of these items).

But the system isn't broke, not by a long shot.
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Old 01-14-2008, 09:18 PM
 
229 posts, read 169,488 times
Reputation: 47
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewToCA View Post
Two separate issues, with Social Security you can increase the contribution by employee and employer, alter the benefit formula, increase the contribution ceiling or increase the population paying into the system (or a combination of these items).

But the system isn't broke, not by a long shot.
As I said before, increase SS contributions, or reduce payout. But there was another choice, before the squander. By using the trillions to rebuild the American infrastructure, we could have garnered new contributions without increasing the contribution by employee and employer. The trillions that Bush mis-spent WILL need to be paid back by the American taxpayer, problem is, we didn't get anything for it, except thousands of disabled veterans that we will now need to care for.
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Old 01-15-2008, 06:03 AM
 
19,198 posts, read 31,399,977 times
Reputation: 4013
This is the first SS thread I can recall wherein some actually sensible comment and discussion arose. It makes for a nice change against the babble of mis- and disinformation that has more typically arisen from the gaggle of those who have been misled by Bush. SS has been adjusted and tinkered with many times in the past, and it will be as well in the future. But its long-term health is fine right now, so Job-1 is to keep it out of the destructive hands of the private-account pirates and plunderers. Once we have elected some people of sense and actual concern for the well-being of those served by the system, there will be plenty of time for a reasoned look at what options for SS adjustment might be appropriate going forward...
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Old 01-15-2008, 06:10 AM
 
Location: Londonderry, NH
41,478 posts, read 59,599,064 times
Reputation: 24858
Apply the Social Security tax to all income from all sources and readjust the rate to cover current expenses. Still a regressive tax but better than the current rip-off. The extremely wealth will complain that they will never use any of the benefits but too darn bad. I do not use many of the benefits they receive from the tax system either.

I have advocated replacing the current Federal Income Tax system with a similar tax.
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Old 01-15-2008, 08:13 AM
 
Location: Florida
384 posts, read 285,144 times
Reputation: 43
I don't blame the average American
-------------------------------------------------
I Do
ask the average American how many credit cards they have.
I have one,why do I need two,four,six??
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