Social Security and the Fleecing of America

NewsMax ^ | 3/12/05 | Christopher G. Adamo

[Hank Rearden]

Wow. Switch "Republican" for "Communist" and you have quote out of Mao's Little Red Book.

Indeed.

[No-Compromise Conservative]

You nailed it in post #3.

The thing that gets me is that 10 years ago Democrats were also saying that SS was in a crisis and should be fixed. Even the great Bill Clinton said so in his 1999 SOTU speech.

The best thing about Bush is that he actually opened the door and put the subject on the table. Prior to him any politician that mentioned SS reform might as well kissed his reelection goodbye. For this alone makes Bush a great President.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

What you're saying is that if you're old enough now, you reap the benefits of the Ponzi scheme, as those who are in early enough usually do.

These seniors paid into the system; they have a right to receive whatever they put into it. It is the politicians who put the SS trust fund into the general fund, and replaced it with worthless IOUs.

What you're also saying is that people younger than that have to pay off the old people...

Wrong. I didn't say that. I said it should be mandatory that younger people invest a minimum percentage into an IRA or 401(k). Seniors can receive their benefits through spending cuts or replacing all payroll and FICA taxes with a temporary federal sales tax.

accept the fact that the system will blow up and pay them nothing and somehow scrape together enough to support themselves in old age after paying off the older ones who've scammed them.

They got their own retirement accounts, remember?

Look, I agree with you that Social Security is a scam. But the ideal solution is to pay off the current recipients, allow those in-between to accept a lump-sum payment in exchange for forgoing future benefits, and mandate that younger workers set up their own retirement accounts.

[Jimmy Valentine]

The first paragraph is the core of this article for me.

As far as I am concerned, there are more than a few current and former members of Congress that I would love to see dancing at the end of a gibbet.

"It could probably be shown with facts and figures, that there is no distinctly native American criminal element, excepting Congress" - Mark Twain.

regards,

[Teplukin]

The beauty of the President's proposal is that it will be like a 401K deal, where we get to manage our funds. If you make millons, more power to ya! And if you screw up, well bozo, that's your fault. Live with it, and don't whine and complain.