Posted on 03/25/2005 7:33:27 AM PST by mission9
I am challenging all active freepers to set up or visit a local "meetup" (www.meetup.com topic - social security) and discuss social security reform. The overall gist of reform proposals can be found at generationstogether.net. This is a massive public education problem that must communicate four things:
1.Social Security has a crisis. 2. There will be no change for those at or nearing retirement, or receiving disability payments. 3. Young people will have a choice to participate in a retirement program more like a 401k (and less like welfare) or may choose to continue with the present tax and benefit structure. 4. Personal accounts will dramatically increase the wealth of every person, and reduce the deficit.
If there is not a "Social Security Meetup" in your area, then take the initiative and set one up.
ping
Social Security: Don't mend it, end it!
Don't reform it even with private accounts. Get rid of it. Make it voluntary and let people opt out.
Speaking of this, has anyone seen the pro-Bush SS ad? The one with the stopwatch that blasts the Democrats? It was way cool!
Saw it. Loved it. Then, right after AARP had their own commercial.
AARP? Why? This does not affect you even though you want to make people think that it does.
There are two close to my home, but reviewing past meetings by one of these two groups, they seem a little DUish.
Be careful what group you join.
My idea is simple. We start with the current functionality of the SS system and establish a line between the socialist functionality and the personal responsibility side of it.
The socialist part of it (i.e. to each according to his needs, from each according to his ability) is currently used to give benefits to disabled people and other people who didn't pay in. We shouldn't make that go away, but we can nail down the portion of the total SS money that is reserved for that.
The other part of it, the part where people who paid in get money later is another story. Right now, every dollar goes into the system and people who pay in get some money back later. Some have estimated that the equivalent rate of return (if you were to treat one's SS contributions as an investment) is 1% (inflation adjusted).
What I propose is that we nail down the boundry between the socialist side of SS and the personal responsibility side.
Here is a spreadsheet that I came up with that illustrates what I am talking about:
Click here...
The yellow squares are places you can edit. You pick the percentage of ownership (I like 70%) and the esitmated yearly salary growth and starting salary. I compare my system to the government taking all 12.4% of the contribution and giving back 1%. If you adjust the percentage of ownership (the 70% number) and the estimated rate of return (the 2.75%) you can see where in time you break even with the current system.
ping
Our Jacksonville, FL Freeprs will have our monthly Coffee get together April 3, so I am sure this will come up.
Get real, with what is doable in the short term. Some personal account is way better than none. Once the benefits of some personalization are realized, the rest of the system is dead meat. Don't be such a purist that you lose the war before even joining the battle.
The original social security was supposed to be personal accounts, too. But the Government tapped into that right away. What's to say they won't do it again?
Making social security voluntary is the better option. It's easier to sell -- even liberal college students would like to avoid being trapped into that program -- and it keeps the government away from my money.
Another distinction that should be made is that between a defined benefit (current SS) and a defined contribution (401K) plan. The defined benefit can easily degrade into a Ponzi scheme, because there is not one to one link of personal responsibility. The defined benefit of SS adds to the humongous Natonal deficit, while the personal account contributes to surpluses. Your plan sounds good. I was unable to open your file. I encourage you to educate your fellow citizens with your plan to relieve social security angst. Please visit generationstogether.net.
I tried downloading your spreadsheet. Windows could not find it.
We need to establish the role of government. We are compasionate conservatives. We care about the disabled and don't want runaway monopolistic capitalism. So the government needs some sort of role.
Sorry, I don't agree with your suggestion. I don't give a rat's patootie about this issue and nothing you say to me will convince me otherwise. I'm totally focused on the Terri issue, and I believe the Pubbies have dropped the ball on saving Terri. Therefore they can go pound salt if they want any help from me on any other issue. Nuff said.
The AARP is a scam, originally set up to promote sales of insurance, and is only watching out for it's own self interest. The best way to shut them up is to offer them and their insurance company backers a piece of the pie.
I guess some people are not very good team players. Maybe you can help the cause by scheduling a boxing match with a Deaniac. For the rest of us, every year that social security goes unreformed, it costs the treasury 600 billion dollars. That is enough to fund the war in Iraq for eight years. That is more than the entire defense budget in a single year. Nothing I could say can change your mind. You are losing the real battle for Terri - reforming the judiciary, on a single skirmish line. In refusing to be a team player, you have abandoned your goal. And for what? Your pride remains intact, even with a broken nose and a cauliflower ear.
Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effect Gen-Reagan/Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.
Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.
sad but true.
Bump to that. But any progress away from the hands of government is progress.
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