Budget Bill Gouges Social Security

Mike Lee Facebook Feed ^ | 10/30/2015 | Mike Lee Facebook Feed

[azishot]

I just called McCain’s office, told them what I thought and the nitwit only said that she would pass the message onto the senator. I’m embarrassed he’s our senator. I’m sorry for the rest of the country that the idiots of AZ keep sending this jerk back to D.C.

[justlurking]

This raised the SSDI share of the SS payroll tax from 1.8% to 2.37% for two years, reducing the amount going to ‘regular’ Social Security by a like amount.

No, it won't. But, it's hardly "stealing from the Trust Fund". It's more like "moving it from one Trust Fund to the other". He should have said: "stealing from the Social Security Retirement Trust Fund.:

DI (disability insurance) and OASI (old age and survivor's insurance) are accounted separately within Social Security. However, the DI Trust Fund is almost gone. Disability insurance was added to Social Security in 1956, but the additional payroll tax hasn't been enough, despite increases since then.

What they should have done is increased the payroll tax, and earmarked it for DI. But, you can imagine how popular a tax increase would be.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Americans were forced to pay into this scam all of their lives and now the ‘RATS and the PUBS are stealing OUR MONEY to give to their freeloading illegal alien Xenos. Obammie with his commie “redistribution of wealth” and all of his freeloading Xenos can all kiss my red, white and blue @$$.

[Captain Peter Blood]

No body pays into SS,what you pay goes to support all those already on it. There is no account with your name on it.

The real problem from here on out is when the full force of the baby Boomers hit there will be, maybe, 2 people or less working for everyone one person on SS.

[Boardwalk]

The writing was already on the wall 30 years ago that SS was doomed, and now soon!

[Boardwalk]

Good for you for calling. 2 words of mortified embarrassment and senator...Ted Kennedy. I can feel your pain!

[mrsmith]

It brings the ‘death date’ earlier by reducing the funds going into the OASI trust funds.
The recent granting of benefits to perverts by the courts will also make the ‘death date’ earlier as those payments were not previously part of the actuarial calculations.

[mrsmith]

“moving it from one Trust Fund to the other”.
Exactly: .57% less of the payroll tax is going to the OASI trust fund.

The law does have new requirements for getting SSDI, like getting a doctor’s report if possible!
Seems states set their own standards and some were very lax.

[bestintxas]

“The writing was already on the wall 30 years ago that SS was doomed, and now soon!”

Try 50 years.

It was LBJ who persuaded Congress to initially raid the SS trust fund so he could use it to offset increased costs of running the govt

[Boardwalk]

Haha you are right! Rare I give a low ball estimate, in fact I’ve scarred myself! Happy Halloween!

[justlurking]

The law does have new requirements for getting SSDI, like getting a doctor’s report if possible!

You didn't need a doctor's report to be declared disabled and unable to work? No wonder it's being abused.

On the flip side, a friend of mine suffers from occasional seizures after brain surgery, and he can't drive. Due to his work, it's a severe inconvenience. He has lost some of his long-term memory too, which is rough on someone with his level of experience.

He said his doctor would sign the papers making him eligible for long term disability, but so far he has declined.

[justlurking]

It was LBJ who persuaded Congress to initially raid the SS trust fund so he could use it to offset increased costs of running the govt

No, this isn't true. I really wish people would stop repeating this meme, because they are doing nothing but blocking the reforms that are needed.

Every dollar borrowed from SS is accounted for, and is being paid back with interest. There just isn't that much there, because most of tax receipts were distributed as benefits in the same year.

To give you an idea of how bad it is: The Trust Fund currently has about $2.7 trillion. It's the excess in taxes over the past few decades that were effectively loaned to the US government by investing in the equivalent of US Treasury Bonds (the rest of the taxes went to current beneficiaries).

But, in July of 2015, the Social Security administration estimated their "unfunded liability" (meaning, the amount they must pay under current law) to current and future beneficiaries is $27 trillion. That means they only have 10 cents "in the bank" for every $1 they must pay. The rest has to come from future payroll taxes.

What doomed Social Security at the outset was the assumption that population growth and wage growth would continue unabated. The demographic and economic assumptions were too optimistic -- even as late as the 1980's when Social Security was last "saved".

What REALLY broke it: when the COLA was added to SS benefits, AND Congress increased benefits by another 20% over what the SSA said they could afford back in the 70's. That made it actuarily-unsound (a fancy name for "paying more benefits than it could afford, in the long run), and Social Security has never recovered.

You can't increase benefits automatically unless you start with a LOWER benefit level that has the risk of inflation built into the cost.

[Boardwalk]

It comes back to discounted cash flow.

[utax]

everything I needed to know about Social Security I learned from Ida Mae Fuller.

[Boardwalk]

SS System represents 110 Trillion in unfunded liability! What a disaster! Let’s add another 20 million illegals to that! No problema!

[joe fonebone]

ding ding ding.....

we have a winner

[bestintxas]

“Every dollar borrowed from SS is accounted for, and is being paid back with interest”

Are you serious?

You actually believe this garbage that it is being paid back with interest?

Just how many dollars have been paid back so far, hmmm? Accounting is far different than actual cash.

When LBJ took SS monies to be included in total government budget, he effectively raided SS as he shielded his massive ‘Great Society’ with monies intended to be set aside for American’s retirement.

THERE WILL NEVER BE A PAYBACK OF THESE FUNDS, PERIOD.

I believe the feds are hatching a plan by next raiding 401ks and IRAs of individuals which will take that money and deliver IOUs for them.

[Exeter]

“THESE RINOS NEED TO BE PRIMARY’D”

We tried to get rid of Cochran in Miss. but he allied himself with the local Democratic Party and got Democrats to vote for him in a REPUBLICAN primary while using the same tactics used by his allies (promise more, if my opponent wins you get less, etc.), don’t be fooled, Thad Cochran is a Democrat despite his Republican camouflage...

[utax]

“SS System represents 110 Trillion in unfunded liability! What a disaster! Let’s add another 20 million illegals to that! No problema!”

yes, that’s coming. it will be done in the name of “fairness”. after all the illegals contributed to SS. never mind that it was done using other people’s SS numbers via identity theft that ruined lives.

“I believe the feds are hatching a plan by next raiding 401ks and IRAs of individuals which will take that money and deliver IOUs for them.”

right you are. the CONgress critters are running out of places to steal funds from.

[justlurking]

You actually believe this garbage that it is being paid back with interest?

Yes, I can read an annual report. Can you?

This is directly from the 2015 Social Security Trustees Report, on page 7:

Click the image to see the report.

Just how many dollars have been paid back so far, hmmm? Accounting is far different than actual cash.

In 2014, Total expenditures were $859.2B. But, only $756B were collected in payroll taxes, and $29.6B in income taxes on benefits.

That means that $73.6B had to come from the Trust Fund. However, the trust fund earned $98.2B in interest. So, the net increase in the Trust Fund was $25B.

An aside: $98.2B in interest on a Trust Fund balance of $2,764.4B is an annual return of 3.55%. This is consistent with the long-term US Treasury Bond rates in 2014, which varied from 2.75% to 3.93%.

It should be noted that the OASI and DI funds are accounted separately. The SSA combines the two into a single amount for convenience, but you should consider them separately.

THERE WILL NEVER BE A PAYBACK OF THESE FUNDS, PERIOD.

The annual report cited above proves you are wrong.

Without any payback, Social Security would have had to start reducing benefits in 2010, the first year benefits exceeded incoming taxes. Social Security can't print money.

I believe the feds are hatching a plan by next raiding 401ks and IRAs of individuals which will take that money and deliver IOUs for them.

Your prediction will be as good as your last one, and you will be batting zero. The government isn't taking your money, unless you willingly loan it to them by buying US Treasury Bonds.

I have a newsflash for you. There has been NO serious discussion about "raiding 401ks and IRAs" outside leftist think-tanks.

Zero. None. Zilch.

And you can save yourself the effort of reposting the usual conspiracy BS. I've seen it. And it's BS.

ONE leftist professor testified to a Congressional Committee long ago about this. She was roundly disregarded -- there has been no legislation even filed, much less made it out of committee.

Look, you can either pull your head out of the sand and talk to your Congressman about Social Security's problems and how to solve them, or you can spout this kind of crap and be roundly ignored.

But, by repeating this kind of crap, you are actually doing nothing but PREVENTING any kind of meaningful reform by spreading outright propaganda that is intended to mislead people and prevent them from making rational choices for their future, and most importantly -- for the future of their children and grandchildren.

The Democrats are one one side saying "everything is just fine with Social Security". You are on the other side saying "there will never be a payback of these funds".

You're both wrong.

The question is, are you enough of an adult to admit it, and participate in a long-term solution? Or, are you going to keep stomping your feet and acting like a spoiled child that had his toy taken away?

It's your choice. Make it soon, because the crisis is already here.