The Danger To Social Security

[ReachTheBeach]

We drink the same flavor KoolAid...

They are having a harder time combating social democracy with the memory of the Soviet Union fading. When they scream "He's a socialist!" a lot of people now ask "You mean like the happy people in Norway?" instead of flashing to downtrodden Eastern bloc countries. Bernie is open about it and getting broad support. It isn't "take everyone's money and divvy out equal shares". There would still be ultra rich and fairly poor people. But the poor would have health care and not starve.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by ReachTheBeach

We drink the same flavor KoolAid...

They are having a harder time combating social democracy with the memory of the Soviet Union fading. When they scream "He's a socialist!" a lot of people now ask "You mean like the happy people in Norway?" instead of flashing to downtrodden Eastern bloc countries. Bernie is open about it and getting broad support. It isn't "take everyone's money and divvy out equal shares". There would still be ultra rich and fairly poor people. But the poor would have health care and not starve.

The problem is that much of Europe is unraveling. A few of the big Social Democracy spots have been feasting on North Sea oil but that is just about gone. Norway still has an enormous oil trust fund that will last for a generation but it's tough to point to any other place in Europe that isn't having a damned tough time funding all those programs. The tax structure in Europe gives them about 70 cents on the dollar in purchasing power. When you jack up labor costs, business costs, and put a VAT/GST on top of everything, prices go up. Employers are even more prone to push jobs offshore to lower cost places and invest in automation to replace expensive workers. I'm all for some programs focused on making the lives of the working class raising families a bit easier. Bare bones single payer health care and extending the school day and school year to provide day care are the two I'd start with.

Back on-topic with Social Security...

The trustee report says that if the Social Security tax were hiked 2.88%, everything would be actarially sound for the next 75 years. If you want to adopt the European social democracy model, you have to recognize that everybody pays taxes in Europe where in the United States, the bottom 50% essentially pay no Federal income tax. Hit employers with 1.44%. Hit employees with 1.44%. Let the top-5%ers keep the Social Security cap and keep taxing them very progressively. If you must, play more games with the earned income tax credit to kick that 1.44% Social Security tax back to the working class raising families.

Here's a link to an AARP summary of the 2014 trustee report. I don't feel like digging out the original report to find the original calculations:
Top 8 Facts About 2014 Social Security Trustees’ Report – AARP

This still doesn't deal with the issue that the "trust fund" is a $2.8 trillion IOU on money that has already been spent.

[Escort Rider]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

....................

Here's a link to an AARP summary of the 2014 trustee report. I don't feel like digging out the original report to find the original calculations:
Top 8 Facts About 2014 Social Security Trustees’ Report – AARP

This still doesn't deal with the issue that the "trust fund" is a $2.8 trillion IOU on money that has already been spent.

Thanks for that link. I know from reading Trustee Reports from previous years that there are a lot of words to slog through in the original reports, so a brief summary such as the one linked to is quite useful.

It will be interesting to see in the next few years worth of Trustees' Reports whether the projected date of Trust Fund exhaustion remains steady (as it has for a couple of years), gets pushed back some, or gets brought forward. If the economy and job picture continue to improve slowly, let us hope it will be pushed back some.

[Led Zeppelin]

Originally Posted by ReachTheBeach

We drink the same flavor KoolAid...

They are having a harder time combating social democracy with the memory of the Soviet Union fading. When they scream "He's a socialist!" a lot of people now ask "You mean like the happy people in Norway?" instead of flashing to downtrodden Eastern bloc countries. Bernie is open about it and getting broad support. It isn't "take everyone's money and divvy out equal shares". There would still be ultra rich and fairly poor people. But the poor would have health care and not starve.

The Soviet Union wasn't a "Social Democracy". It was a true Marxist Leninist command economy - and was in fact the only self-described communist country that fully succeeded in collectivizing the entire economy... much to the harm of the ordinary "proletarians". Norway is not a socialist country by any stretch of the imagination. It is a social democracy with a capitalist free market economy. Just like the US. Just like Hong Kong. Norway probably ranks higher than the US does on the economic freedom scale. I'm not absolutely sure, because I haven't checked the economic stats lately.

There is only one truly Socialist country in the Euro-Scandinavian region. Portugal. And Portugal ain't doin' that hot. None of the world's remaining constitutionally socialist countries (non-communist) are doing that hot. No one is tearing down the fences to emigrate to them either.