Posted on 08/27/2004 2:51:09 PM PDT by PinnedAndRecessed
Rising pressure on U.S. finances from an aging population makes it vital to fix the social safety net soon with steps such as raising the age for full retirement benefits, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday.
"If we have promised more than our economy has the ability to deliver to retirees without unduly diminishing real income gains of workers, as I fear we may have, we must recalibrate our public programs so that pending retirees have time to adjust through other channels," Greenspan said in prepared remarks at an annual symposium.
"If we delay, the adjustments could be abrupt and painful."
...snip.....
He said altering policy to encourage a longer working life for Americans would help.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Meanwhile, our taxes continue to support the welfare deadbeats, drug rehab, yaddayaddayadda.
Plus all the other social programs that have zero benefit whatsoever.
Perhaps if we pulled out SSDI...?
A few colleagues of mine WOULD work more hours in a year, but their SS benefits are reduced if they do. It is a shame, they are bright, knowledgeable people and we suffer for not having them.
/sarcasm
Greenspan is what, 80?..so why does he still work?..Because, if he retired, he'd have to stay home all day with the missus..Andrea Mitchell...
Not that I'm banking on SS benefits for my retirement anyway, but it really chapps my butt to hear a bureaucrat suggest a 'fix' for a problem not of my own making that will make it more likely I will die before seeing a penny of the money they've taken away from me all my life.
yea what we really need is 40m+ young people from 1973 onwards....
It is interesting how the Washington government wants US, the SS TAX payers, (the people who own the SS money), to fix THEIR problem. They are the ones that have stolen, squandered, and spent away our SS dollars for votes, not us. Yet somehow, we are responsible for their raping of the SS system, giving it to anyone but those that it belongs to.
I know it is a totally alien concept, but how about some ACCOUNTABILITY IN WASHINGTON --- (ok, now go ahead and laugh!!!)
Just like the original lies of SS. Once the govt starts lying about a subject it will never stop unless forced to do so.
I say raise the retirement age to 68.
Well, "we" collectively voted for the thieves and demagogues, so in that sense it is "our" fault.
"To Serve Man" is a cook book?
More importantly, Soylent Green is people...
How do you "fix" a criminal conspiraqcy? The Social Insecurity Program was based on intergenerational transfers of funds. Thats fine when the aged are outnumbered by the young. But this time the young are being aske dto carry the entire baby boom group on their backs. (I am a boomer.)
Let's get rid of Social SDecurity System at the same tiome we rid ourselves of the IRS and the Federal Reserve Money values manipulation machinery. What we need in this country, like Ed Wynn said, is a "good nickel". Bring back real money as a stable measure of value, and a lot of our woes dissappear.
/sarcasm
SS has always been invaded to fund Medicaid, welfare, unemployment and we are getting to the point where there will be no room for socialism and the American people have to grow up and realize that there is no free ride.
There will be no more money to steal in the future which will force responsible politics.
Where the country gets saved is through wealth accumulation through the death tax.
It is believed that assets equivalent to 1/3rd of all private property will be confiscated due to deaths in the family over the next 20 years or so.
The death tax is going to fund the tough times and the people expecting to inherit assets that were already taxed many times over will have them taken away in some cases in rates near 50%.
They should have started to scale back Social Security at the end of the Great Depression. It was only supposed to be a temporary measure to get the economy going again.
I say get rid of Social Security all together. There are already other programs to help the truly destitute. Imagine all the additional savings individuals would build up, and imagine all the additional economic growth from everyone having more take home pay!
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