Free Republic

I think the time is coming for an idea that is so old that it is new again: cutting the Federal government in half. The idea is: cancel all Federal welfare-type programs, including all means-tested welfare programs (apparently there are over 150 of them), all healthcare-related programs including Medicare and Medicaid, all education-related, arts-related and housing-related programs, and anything else of this sort -- in short, most everything except for the military, national parks, and maybe some public works. Social Security could eventually be reformed to a system of private retirement accounts, known as a "provident fund" system and in...

On April 22, the trustees for Social Security issued their annual reports, and the situation for the huge transfer program is unsustainable, the same as it’s been for years. The government tells us yet again that the program is running out of money. The danger here is that Americans have been hearing these dire predictions for so long now that they’ll no longer take them seriously. April 23 on Fox News’ Special Report, Bret Baier reported on the trustees’ reports and discussed them with his panel. Panelist Charles Hurt opined that the financial difficulties of the big transfer programs...

As news circulated Tuesday that President Donald Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are eyeing a $2 trillion infrastructure spending package, the House Republican Study Committee introduced a budget proposal that recognizes that America’s $22 trillion—and rapidly growing—national debt is unsustainable, and that Congress must change course. “Preserving American Freedom,” the Republican Study Committee’s comprehensive fiscal 2020 budget proposal, would rein in Washington’s spending addiction by prioritizing core constitutional functions. By reducing inappropriate and wasteful spending and right-sizing the federal government, the committee’s proposal would balance the budget in six years and start...

But a new wrinkle in this venerable scam was recently reported. In this one, recipients of a call are told that their Social Security number has been suspended due not to their own actions but to more general "suspicious activity." Instead of being given another number to call, the victims are told to simply press 1, and they'll be connected with a Social Security agent. Instead, they are connected to a fraudulent agent, who may ask them to verify their Social Security number. Once they verify it, the fraudster has it. Fines and bank account numbers are part of this...

Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Mitt Romney of Utah, with House co-sponsor Ann Wagner of Missouri, unveiled a paid family leave bill on Wednesday, which would require interested new parents to make changes to their Social Security strategy. Under the legislation, parents can pull forward up to three months of those retirement benefits to use for leave following the birth, or adoption, of a child.

House Democrats are considering pushing a massive tax Opens a New Window. hike on American workers, regardless of their income level, as part of a bill to expand Social Security. There’s no question that Social Security Opens a New Window. faces significant funding issues, but there are better ways to reform the program than increasing payroll taxes Opens a New Window. on every employer and worker. According to the Social Security and Medicare Trustees, Social Security is facing a $13.2 trillion cash shortfall between 2034 and 2092. Medicare is in even worse financial shape facing a $37.7 trillion funding shortfall...

Democratic presidential candidate Kirstin Gillibrand wants to expand Social Security to people living in the United States illegally. "First, we need comprehensive immigration reform," the 2020 hopeful and New York senator said during a campaign stop in Davenport, Iowa. "If you are in this country now you must have the right to pay into Social Security, to pay your taxes, to pay into the local school system and to have a pathway to citizenship. That must happen." Gillibrand's comments are striking given her past as an immigration hawk. In 2009, the New York senator voted to increase funding for ICE...

Congress, the branch of government that controls the purse strings and that is therefore responsible for the national debt, passed yet another milestone the other day when the debt blew past $22 Trillion. That’s a 14-digit liability that the American taxpayer is on the hook for. What a deal -- members of Congress get to buy your vote with your kids’ money. In November of 2012 on The Ed Show (mercifully cancelled in 2015), Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said: “We are not gonna cut Social Security, which, by the way, as Harry Reid just reminded us, has nothing to...

For each active worker, four pensioners. For 169 governmental bodies, the numbers are lopsided. In some cases hundreds — and in Chicago’s case, thousands — more retirees are drawing from a fund than active workers are paying into it. Even in a small suburban district such as the Arlington Heights Park District, 432 retirees are pulling from that district’s pension fund with only 103 active employees paying into it. In the city of Chicago, according to the treasurer’s numbers, the gap is smaller in percentage terms, but in terms of the gap, more dramatic. Including Chicago Board of Education administrative...

Amid all the hoopla about Democrats wanting to raise taxes on the rich, they are quietly working on a bill that would increase taxes on every working family in America. Why? To fund expanded benefits for baby boomers hitting retirement. The Social Security 2100 Act would hike the combined payroll taxes paid by workers and their employers from 12.4% today to 14.8% by 2043. The bill would also apply the payroll tax on incomes over $400,000. According to the Social Security Administration, in the first 12 years alone, this would amount to a $1.5 trillion tax hike. Once the tax...

After years of Republican-led debate over how to pare back Social Security’s rising costs, Democrats are flipping the script with an ambitious plan to expand the New Deal-era social insurance program while making gradual changes to keep it solvent for the rest of the century. The Social Security 2100 Act, which was introduced this past week in the House and the Senate, represents a sea change after decades dominated by concern that aging baby boomers would bankrupt the government as they begin drawing benefits from Social Security and other entitlement programs. It would be the first major expansion of Social...

Social Security serves as a lifeline for the millions of seniors who rely on it to pay the bills. If you're eager to make the most of your benefits, all the while avoiding unwanted surprises at present, here are a few key mistakes you'll want to steer clear of next year. 1. Not knowing your full retirement age Though your Social Security benefits are calculated based on your lifetime earnings, the age at which you first file for them can cause that number to change. If you want to avoid losing out on benefits, you'll need to wait until you...

I'm pretty sure most of you will find things here to like and things here to truly hate. Border Security 1. Allow Army and Marine personnel to take leave of absences of up to 52 weeks duration, with military command approval, to join the Border Patrol and assist in its operations, with a $800/week Border Patrol salary and their military pay and benefit package. 2. Allow the Director of Homeland Security to specifically designate border security areas as shoot on sight/fire as appropriate zones. 3. Denounce [get out from under] the “Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees”....

A former Chicago police commander who earned praise for overseeing big reductions in violence in one of the city’s most historically dangerous districts has been charged with stealing more than $360,000 in Social Security funds in a scheme lasting more than 23 years. A one-page criminal information filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court accused Kenneth Johnson of bilking the Social Security Administration out of $363,064 from about June 1994 to November 2017. Although the charge does not contain any more details, sources with knowledge of the investigation told the Chicago Tribune that Johnson is accused of stealing benefits intended for...

Social Security beneficiaries snared in the largest disability scam in U.S. history won a reprieve last week when the government said it will put off decisions on revoking their benefits until the new year. The reversal by the Social Security Administration comes after the federal government finally took possession of and named receivers for thousands of case files from Eric C. Conn, the lawyer who orchestrated the disability-fraud ring. The files, which had been sitting in Conn’s law office for years, contain evidence that might help the beneficiaries prove they were entitled to benefits the government is now trying to...

At a recent panel on modernizing Social Security numbers, Candace Worley, vice president and chief technical strategist for cybersecurity firm McAfee, laid out the core problem with the national identity system that has been in place since 1936. “You can’t have 80 percent of your numbers compromised and continue to consider it a secure form of identity,” Worley said. Social Security Numbers, or SSNs, remain an integral part of how Americans and U.S. residents are identified for everything from opening bank accounts and applying for loans to enrolling in Medicare and filing taxes. But a series of major data breaches...

There's a meme floating around that says all dems voted no on the increase to SS. That is apparently not true but I wanted to see if anyone here can shed light on previous votes that reflect that or any other clarity.

More than half of Americans receive more money in various types of government transfer payments (Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, Social Security) than they pay in federal taxes.1 According to a report released this year by the Congressional Budget Office, only the top two income quintiles in the United States pay more in taxes than they receive in government transfers. Not surprisingly, the lowest income quintiles receive far more in transfers than they pay in taxes:

In just two weeks, Americans will flock to the polls to cast their votes in the mid-term elections where all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 U.S. Senate seats are up for grabs. The people we elect on Nov. 6 will make policy decisions that will shape the future of our country for years to come.  As a federal employee, it’s your chance to make your voice heard and hold politicians accountable. Besides Social Security, health care, voting rights, and other important issues, your entire livelihood is on the line. It’s not about...

IMPORTANT: This information should not be downloaded using government equipment, read during duty time or sent to others using government equipment, because it suggests action to be taken in support of or against legislation. Do not use your government email address or government phone in contacting your Member of Congress.Each week, AFGE browses the World Wide Web for stories that matter to AFGE members. Here are the five stories you shouldn’t miss this week:Trump Demands 5 Percent Spending Cuts from Every Cabinet Agency President Trump on Wednesday ordered Cabinet secretaries to develop a plan to cut 5 percent of their agencies’ budgets,...