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THE widespread tendency in Brazil for men to remarry women several decades younger than them, called the "Viagra effect", is undermining the country's pension system. The report, by Brazil's National Social Security Institute, showed that a trend of men in their sixties marrying women half their age was leaving a big pool of young widows collecting benefits for much longer than anticipated. "The social security system was planned so that the wife receives her husband's pension for only 15 years or so," the author of the study, Paulo Tafner, said. "With growing life expectancy and remarriages with much younger women,...

CONCORD, N.H. – When Tropical Storm Chata'an struck the Federated States of Micronesia in 2002, the U.S. government sent 1,300 blankets, 4,000 disposable diapers, 30 cases of sardines — and my Social Security number. The nine digits that govern so much of Americans' identities are supposed to be ours for life — and only ours. But mine ended up linked to a Micronesian man who defaulted on a disaster loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration. I didn't find out until March, in a letter from a debt collector threatening to garnish my wages if I didn't pay $7,306 in...

Richard W. Fisher Storms on the Horizon Remarks before the Commonwealth Club of California San Francisco, California May 28, 2008 Thank you, Bruce [Ericson]. I am honored to be here this evening and am grateful for the invitation to speak to the Commonwealth Club of California. Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker, two of Ben Bernanke’s linear ancestors as chairmen of the Federal Reserve, have been in the news quite a bit lately. Yet, we rarely hear about William McChesney Martin, a magnificent public servant who was Fed chairman during five presidencies and to this day holds the record for the...

Now, what I have here is very long. I cannot read the entire thing. But there are summaries that I can read. This is a piece entitled, "What the Health Care Bill Actually Says," and it was put together by John David Lewis. It is from the website Classical Ideals. John David Lewis is a professor of classics at Duke University, and here is how he introduces his analysis: "What does the bill, HR 3200, short-titled 'America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009,' actually say about major health care issues? I here pose a few questions in no particular order,...

snip REP. ARMEY: The Medicare law that was written by the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and the chief lobbyists of Blue Cross/Blue Shield, voted on without amendment as an amendment to Social Security, first imposes severe sanctions on physicians and medical providers that don’t comply with its requirements, and it says to seniors at the age of 65 you can no longer buy the insurance that you bought prior to 65. And now by virtue of an internal memo—not a regulation, not a law—they tell seniors today... MR. GREGORY: All right. REP. ARMEY: ...if you don’t sign...

On May 12, 2009, the trustees for the Social Security system released their annual report, "The 2009 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds." Following release of this report, many media outlets were quick to report (or should I say regurgitate) the findings sited in the trustee's executive summary -- notably that Social Security payroll tax collections would begin to exceed benefits paid in 2016, a year shorter than had been forecasted in 2008. Although the news media were correct to convey this fact, such simplistic accounts...

theodp writes "Many US colleges and universities have notices posted on their websites informing US companies that they're tax chumps if they hire students who are US citizens. 'In fact, a company may save money by hiring international students because the majority of them are exempt from Social Security (FICA) and Medicare tax requirements,' advises the taxpayer-supported University of Pittsburgh (pdf) as it makes the case against hiring its own US students. You'll find identical pitches made by the University of Delaware, the University of Cincinnati, Kansas State University, the University of Southern California, the University of Wisconsin, Iowa State...

The Social Security System, a giant totem that liberals uphold and look to. A symbol of so called reforms by the former dictator FDR and his new sham. We are told over and over by liberals that Social Security is for helping the weak, the old and infirm. It is a symbol of enlightenment. But don't you dare say a word about it. Social security is not only beloved, it is a third rail in politics. Don't you dare speak out against it. Thankfully I'm not a member of congress, (yet) So I think I will discuss some of the...

Government Friends With Benefits by: Mytheos Holt, August 12, 2009 Last Thursday, August 6, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) hosted a presentation by resident scholar Andrew Biggs on his paper entitled “The Case for Simplying Social Security Benefits.” Prominently featured by Biggs were the problems with estimating Social Security benefits due to the byzantine calculations involved. In discussing his political priorities, the former Social Security Administration official cited equity and predictability as the two relevant factors. “First, we want to make benefits more predictable, and secondly, we want to improve the social insurance value of the program,” he said. To...

Sen. Lindsey Graham was the sole Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee to vote in favor of Sonia Sotomayor. A few days later, he co-signed an op-ed in The Washington Post with six Senate Democrats and four other Senate Republicans that began, "We refuse to let partisanship kill health reform." If there's a deal to be made on health care, he'll probably be at the center of it. Graham (S.C.) spoke with The Post's Ezra Klein about reform, the pitfalls of bipartisanship and the difference between buying a car and having a heart attack.

What's really behind the push in the healthcare bill to limit, by government decree, healthcare options? It's because of the government's medicare Ponzi scheme that makes Bernie Madoff look like just a simple short-game grifter. As Gary North points out, Medicare's hospital fund is already bankrupt: This is taken from a March 25, 2008 press release from the U.S. government's Department of Health and Human Services. This year the HI Trust Fund will spend more than its income, and from 2009 through 2017, about $342 billion will need to be transferred from the Federal treasury to cover beneficiaries' hospital insurance...

After the highly successful trial period where you could turn in your old, polluting cars and trucks for cash thereby helping the government run auto industry and clean the air, the Obama-Care medical insurance program is now offering up to $2500 per person for your old, unproductive relatives, ages 70 and over, regardless of condition! No need to worry about a costly long term nursing home plan with this guaranteed buy back from the government! And you'll be doing your part to save Social Security and cut health care costs by 50% or more, it's a real win-win from...

Did you know that local government entities used to be able to opt out of Social Security? In the late 1970's the Social Security Administration was nearly bankrupt and the original stipulation that local governments could opt out of the program. Well, Galveston County in Texas decided to opt out! Then-County Judge Ray Holbrook, County Attorney Bill Decker and Houston businessman Kebodeaux set up a fund that has outperformed the Social Security program two to three times over! Says current Galveston County Judge James Yarbrough, "It has been a great success for us!" Well, when the SSA finally did go...

In light of the POTUS's vehement promise that O'health care is to cut costs, yet continues to leave a patient's "choice" intact, it may behoove us to examine an ongoing story that started back in October of 2008. That would be when Brian Hall of Catlett, Va; Lewis Randall of Whidbey Island, Wash.; and Norman Rogers of Miami, Fla filed a lawsuit in US District Court, District of Columbia... now known as Hall v. Sebelius.Choice? *What* choice?Apparently, since a Clinton rule change to Social Security regulations in 1993, those over 65 years of age have had a choice all right......

(snip) Dr. Orly obtained Obama's mother's Social Security #. 3 addresses in Hawaii and one in New York. The # is alive, well and actively being used today. Kelly Anne Dunham and Anna Sotoero are using this #. Question: Fraud (stolen #'s) or is she really dead? or is a relative using the number? MAYBE THE ILLEGAL ALIEN AUNT IS USING IT?!?!?! No hospital in Hawaii has records of Stanley being treated for her cancer. Where was she treated? Washington State? Only Memorial services for both the grandmother and mom - both cremated - why? Zero formal funerals. - why?...

Olympia Snowe, it seems safe to assume, is following the health care debate a bit more closely than the average American. So it is saying something that the Maine senator — a key figure in health care negotiations — admits she is stumped by the task of crafting a simple explanation for legislation of mind-numbing complexity. “If anybody can give me an easy, 30-second solution to this multitrillion-dollar problem, be my guest,” said Snowe, a moderate Republican.

Obama Used 39 Social Security Numbers?topic posted Mon, July 27, 2009 - 5:43 PM "Dr. Taitz brings forward allegations that Barrack Obama is unlawfully holding the position as President of the United States. She currently is representing approx. 170 military members including commissioned officers in a lawsuit to force Barrack Obama to produce his birth cirtificate, proving that he is eligible to hold the position of President."

[...] Perhaps as early as this year, Social Security, at $680 billion the nation's biggest social program, will be transformed from an operation that's helped finance the rest of the government for 25 years into a cash drain that will need money from the Treasury. In other words, a bailout. [...] Unlike the pigs feeding at Uncle Sam's trough, the people who qualify for Social Security old-age benefits -- the ones who'll benefit from the bailout -- have played by the rules and paid Social Security taxes for decades. It would be immoral to tell them, "Sorry, we have to...

As President Clinton’s campaign mouthpiece James Carville put it so succinctly in the 1990s, “It’s the economy, stupid!” It was true then, it is true now. People may be temporarily seduced by intriguing figures and rosy promises but, bottom line, they still have to support their families and pay their bills. When the novelty of this or that politician has worn off and his or her pie-in-the-sky promises prove just so many hollow words, reality sets in. I am no economy expert, except for seeing every day that Americans are both depressed and terrified about their rapidly devolving savings and...

"The journey begins as FRONTLINE correspondent Forrest Sawyer takes viewers to a secret location: the Treasury's debt auction room, where the U.S. government sells securities backed by the "full faith and credit of the United States." On this day, the government is auctioning $67 billion of Treasury securities. The money borrowed will be used to fund services and programs that the government cannot pay for through tax revenues alone. Observers warn that the United States' reliance on borrowing to fund essential programs is a dangerous gamble. For the first time, investors are beginning to question the ability of federal government...

A Swedish man who claimed to be wheelchair bound has been asked to repay millions of kronor in social insurance benefits after authorities obtained a picture of a him dancing with a life-sized rabbit. The 33-year-old man from Halmstad in western Sweden had claimed for years that he was bound to a wheelchair and as a result qualified for public assistance in the form of payments made to “people in his immediate environment” who helped him with daily tasks. While the doctor who originally examined the man didn't find any reason as to why the man couldn't walk, the doctor...

Fund Expected to Be Exhausted in 2037. BY ELLEN E. SCHUTZ The nation's wealth gap is widening amid an uproar about lofty pay packages in the financial world. Executives and other highly compensated employees now receive more than one-third of all pay in the U.S., according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Social Security Administration data -- without counting billions of dollars more in pay that remains off federal radar screens that measure wages and salaries.

Recession derails retirement plansONE MAN'S STORY By RENEE RICHARDSON Senior Reporter Saturday, July 18, 2009 At 57, Charlie Johnson never thought he'd be starting a new business venture. But the recession changed all that. Johnson started vacationing in the lakes area when his father had a cabin here in the mid 1960s. "This is where I wanted to end up," Johnson said. With a background in road construction and real estate development, Johnson was able to retire here in 1993 and take up professional walleye tour fishing. He expected to golf and go motorcycle riding. Then the recession wiped out...

If you think government is too big and too costly, wait until Obamacare kicks in. The Congressional Budget Office put the price tag of the House Democrats' health care takeover plans at $1.5 trillion over 10 years. But the CBO's fine print included a telltale caveat: "We have not yet estimated the administrative costs to the federal government of implementing the specified policies, nor have we accounted for all of the proposal's likely effects on spending for other federal programs." You don't need an accounting degree or clairvoyant powers. The administrative costs and spillover spending effects will be astronomical. Look...

PHOENIX -- A Social Security Administration motivational management conference held at a high-end Valley resort last week cost $700,000, the SSA told the ABC15 Investigators. Costs for the conference at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa included airfare, hotel entertainment, dancers, motivational speakers, and food, an administration official said. A spokesperson outside the SSA's Phoenix office declined to comment. A spokesperson from the SSA's regional office said the conference was essential, that teleconferencing was not an option, and that all 675 managers needed to meet in person. The SSA provided ABC15 with a list of courses provided at the conference,...

Did anyone else hear her interview this evening on Plains Radio? She reported they have uncovered 39 different Social Security numbers associated with Obama, including one in Connecticut for a 119 year old man. Crazy.

It was just a few months ago when insurance giant AIG sparked outrage after company executives walked away with millions of taxpayer-funded bonuses. Now, the Social Security Administration is treating its 700 managers to three days at the Arizona Biltmore Resort. But the Agency's Pete Spencer says his group is no AIG. "We get a regular appropriation, which includes money for training, and that's what we're using," says Spencer. The conference is being paid for by taxpayer dollars. Critics say the training session is too lavish and should be scaled down. But Spencer says the Arizona Biltmore was actually the...

Under Obama's watch. Social Security Administration holds training conference at upscale resort at taxpayers' expense must see video at site

Carnegie Mellon University researchers have shown that public information readily gleaned from governmental sources, commercial data bases, or online social networks can be used to routinely predict most — and sometimes all — of an individual's nine-digit Social Security number. Project lead Alessandro Acquisti, associate professor of information technology and public policy at Carnegie Mellon's H. John Heinz III College, and Ralph Gross, a post-doctoral researcher at the Heinz College, have found that an individual's date and state of birth are sufficient to guess his or her Social Security number with great accuracy. The study findings will appear this week...

This week's "scare the heck out of you" post…

Using just a person's birth date and birth state, two Carnegie Mellon University researchers say they've found a way to figure out people's Social Security numbers, potentially opening a new front in the battle against identity theft. Alessandro Acquisti and Ralph Gross said they hope their findings, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Researchers have found that it is possible to guess many -- if not all -- of the nine digits in an individual's Social Security number using publicly available information, a finding they say compromises the security of one of the most widely used consumer identifiers in the United States. Many numbers could be guessed at by simply knowing a person's birth data, the researchers from Carnegie Mellon University said.

Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election years. Our Senators and Congresswomen do not pay into Social Security and, of course, they do not collect from it. You see, Social Security benefits were not suitable for persons of their rare elevation in society. They felt they should have a special plan for themselves. So, many years ago they voted in their own benefit plan. In more recent years, no congressperson has felt the need to change it. After all, it is a great plan. For all practical purposes their plan works like this: When they retire, they continue...

This Backgrounder examines illegal immigration-related document fraud and identity theft that is committed primarily for the purpose of employment. It debunks three common misconceptions: illegal aliens are “undocumented;” the transgressions committed by illegal aliens to obtain jobs are minor; and illegal-alien document fraud and identity theft are victimless crimes. It discusses how some community leaders rationalize these crimes, contributing to a deterioration of the respect for laws in our nation, and presents a variety of remedies, including more widespread electronic verification of work status (E-Verify and the Social Security Number Verification Service) and immigrant outreach programs to explain the ramifications...

I know, I know. I'm probably boring you to death by going through the Cap and Trade bill with a fine tooth comb. But today, let's talk about how it would direct money to the working poor in America. On page 1193, the bill would add a section to the Social Security Act on an "Energy Refund Program." Basically, those making no more than 150% of the poverty line, would get monthly cash payments from the government to offset the extra costs that are caused by this bill. In other words, as your energy bill goes up, the feds will...

The Obama administration has made it a point to refrain from using the term terrorism when discussing those who wish to kill Americans in large numbers. Acts of terrorism are now described by the White House as “man-caused disasters” in order to move away from the politics of fear, according to Obama’s Director of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. Apparently, the politics of fear are being held in reserve for use against the conservative movement. First, Napolitano’s office released its assessment of “right-wing extremism.” Now, the Speaker of the California Assembly, Karen Bass, rolls out the T-word to describe talk radio....

WHEN Otto von Bismarck introduced the first pension for workers over 70 in 1889, the life expectancy of a Prussian was 45. In 1908, when Lloyd George bullied through a payment of five shillings a week for poor men who had reached 70, Britons, especially poor ones, were lucky to survive much past 50. By 1935, when America set up its Social Security system, the official pension age was 65—three years beyond the lifespan of the typical American. State-sponsored retirement was designed to be a brief sunset to life, for a few hardy souls.

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Bill collectors are exploiting a legal loophole to seize Social Security and veterans' benefits even though federal law is supposed to protect the payments from creditors.</p> <p>Lawmakers from both parties who have been pressing the Treasury Department for years to close the loophole with new regulations are growing impatient. The Obama administration is now promising action but has offered no timetable for developing the new rules.</p>

Over the past year I have been going over articles about Asperger's syndrome. Asperger's syndrome is considered to be a highly functioning form of autism yet it is also considered to be a disability. Members of the autism community have worked for years trying to downplay the severity of the disorder. I first heard about Asperger's in 1998 while watching a documentary. Asperger's disorder was first invented by a German doctor named Hans Asperger. (the disorder was named after him.) Asperger did study on children who though they were bright were considered awkward. The world health organization began to use...

Raised in an individualistic culture, Americans dislike the concept of the "welfare state" and do not use the term. But make no mistake, the United States has a welfare state, and its future is precarious. The true significance of General Motors' bankruptcy lies more with this welfare state than with the battered condition of American capitalism. Broadly speaking, the U.S. welfare system divides into two parts -- the private, run by firms; and the public, provided by government. Both are besieged: private companies by competitive pressures; government by rising debt and taxes. GM exemplified the large corporation as private welfare...

As economic conditions deteriorate and unemployment continues to soar, one in nine Americans are now on food stamps. Moreover, a staggering one of every six dollars of Americans' income is now coming in the form of a federal or state check or voucher. One in Nine Americans on Food Stamps According to the USDA One in nine Americans on food stamps. One in nine Americans are using federal food stamps to help buy groceries as the country's deep recession forced another 591,000 people onto the federal anti-hunger program at latest count. Enrollment jumped 2 percent to 33.2 million people in...

Yes, you may have to work longer, and you definitely have to save more. But today's lower stock prices will lead to bigger gains in the long run. NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Leave it to one of the country's leading gerontologists to capture the gallows humor of planning for retirement in the post-2008 world. "The collapse of the economy has led me to drastically restructure my own retirement plan," says Dr. Richard Besdine, the 69-year-old director of the Brown University Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research. "It's a lot simpler now -- I'm just going to die in the...

Almost half of the nation’s 20 largest unions have pension funds that federal law classifies as “endangered” or in “critical” condition due to being underfunded, an Examiner review of federal actuarial reports shows. Pensions with less than 80 percent of the assets needed to cover present and projected liabilities are considered “endangered,” while those that fall below a 65 percent threshold are classified as “critical” under the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The growing number of local and national union pensions that lack sufficient resources to cover their obligations could threaten the retirement security not just of union members, but...

No except allowed, story here .

Since 2005, when it first began to crack down on the problem, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has paid out $75.8 million to fugitive felons receiving payments on behalf of other Social Security beneficiaries. According to a report issued by the SSA inspector general’s office, in one case alone, an individual with an outstanding warrant for burglary that has been pending since 1991 received $25,019 on behalf of a mentally-disabled beneficiary from 2005 to 2008. After the IG reported the case to SSA in June 2008, the fugitive felon was replaced with another more suitable "representative payee," the report said....

When one thinks of turning over the nations health care, currently 13% of the United States economy, to the Feds, one must examine the track record of the other failed socialist programs that this country has experimented with. Take the failing ponzi scheme of Social Security for example.

Senior Obama administration officials said Friday that policy adjustments necessary to contain soaring budget deficits would be made once an economic recovery takes hold, in response to growing concerns about a run-up in long-term interest rates. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, National Economic Council chief Lawrence Summers and Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag said in separate interviews that the administration was acutely aware that rising interest rates pose a threat to the improving U.S. economy. Yields on 10-year Treasury notes have risen 1.5 percentage points this year as bond traders pull back amid worries about rising federal debt....

The greatest threat to Social Security is the lack of confidence in the system. Ask anybody younger than 40 if they believe that they will ever see a check. That revelation should compel us to immediate action. I have a plan to secure Social Security.

Instead of seeing older workers staying on the job longer as the economy has worsened, the Social Security system is reporting a major surge in early retirement claims that could have implications for the financial security of millions of baby boomers. Since the current federal fiscal year began Oct. 1, claims have been running 25% ahead of last year, compared with the 15% increase that had been projected as the post-World War II generation reaches eligibility for early retirement, according to Stephen C. Goss, chief actuary for the Social Security Administration. Many of the additional retirements are probably laid-off workers...

When the trustees of Social Security and Medicare recently reported on the economic outlook for these programs, the news coverage was universally glum. The recession had made everything worse. Social Security, Medicare face insolvency sooner, headlined The Wall Street Journal. Actually, these reports were good news. Better would have been Social Security, Medicare risk bankruptcy in 2010. It's increasingly obvious that Congress and the president (regardless of which party is in power) will deal with the political stink bomb of an aging society only if forced. And the most plausible means of compulsion would be for Social Security and Medicare...