Posted on 03/18/2006 3:04:56 PM PST by eeevil conservative
53 Senators vote to raid the Social Security trust fund
Yesterday, Senators Jim DeMint and Mike Crapo introduced an amendment to prevent the current Social Security Surplus from continuing to be spent. 53 Senators voted against it.
After the vote, DeMint issued the following statement:
Details about the amendment via a DeMint press release are in the extended section.“Sadly, fifty-three senators turned their backs on America’s seniors,” Senator DeMint said. “There is simply no way to save Social Security if we don’t have the courage stop using the surplus as a secret slush fund. I’m thankful there were forty-six senators who stood with America’s seniors to end the raid. We will not be deterred by cynics who offer no solutions.”
“Those who voted against this amendment voted to raid Social Security,” said Senator DeMint. “Now, every senator will be on record whether they oppose or support the raid. This said absolutely nothing about personal accounts, it was about whether you believe Social Security should be saved or allowed to wither on the vine.”
UPDATE: Pasted below are the 53 Senators who voted to raid the fund -- Republicans who should no better are in bold. Click here to see the whole breakdown.
Akaka (D-HI) Baucus (D-MT) Bayh (D-IN) Biden (D-DE) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Burns (R-MT) Byrd (D-WV) Cantwell (D-WA) Carper (D-DE) Chafee (R-RI) Clinton (D-NY) Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND) Dayton (D-MN) Dodd (D-CT) Domenici (R-NM) Dorgan (D-ND) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) Feinstein (D-CA) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Jeffords (I-VT) Johnson (D-SD) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) Kohl (D-WI) Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (D-CT) Lincoln (D-AR) Lugar (R-IN) Menendez (D-NJ) Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE) Obama (D-IL) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Salazar (D-CO) Sarbanes (D-MD) Schumer (D-NY) Smith (R-OR) Snowe (R-ME) Stabenow (D-MI) Talent (R-MO) Wyden (D-OR)
The current Social Security system allows Congress to spend the Social Security surplus on other government programs. Including interest, Congress has raided $1.7 trillion from Social Security since 1985. The surplus now only consists of IOU’s stacked in a vault in West Virginia that can only be paid back by raising taxes or cutting spending.
The DeMint-Crapo Amendment to Stop the Raid on Social Security would have allowed the Senate to pass legislation with the following requirements:
· Social Security surpluses must be used to help pay for future benefits
· That it make no changes to the benefits of those Americans born before January 1, 1950
· That it provide a voluntary option for younger Americans to obtain legally binding ownership of a portion of their benefits.
Yes...you are right...and I have told both of my children, who are in their 20's to make SURE they have their OWN retirement plans...
What I find so sadly laughable...is the democrats' insistence that there is "nothing wrong" with Social Security...and that Bush's plan to let people CHOOSE to put a portion of their money that THEY are paying in...in a personal account...
WILL make everything just SO awful!
I heard a talk show guest (can't remember what show) say that Social Security is one of the reasons for Congress' NOT wanting to shut down the borders and send the illegals back to their countries...
That the USA needs the money they will put into the Social Security and other social programs....and that sending them away, and their input into the system...that it will crash a lot faster.
Also, that with the unemployment rate so low...even with up to 20 million illegals in America....if we were to round up and deport them...it would cause a HUGH economic crisis...to businesses, loan companies, banks..etc.
So...if people want to blame "big business" for the "guest worker program" that Bush wants...they are probably correct, except it not only would be BIG business, but SMALL businesses also.
I agree. We don't have any direct investments in equities. All of our retirement funds are in Fidelity mutual funds.
The stock market goes up over time but individual stocks can go down and funds fail at a surprisingly high rates. Its possible to do better in the private sector, but the risks are much greater too. If your particular investments fail leaving you destitute, what should the rest of us do with you? No doubt you think you're too smart for that to ever happen.
It's not as if there were any "real" money there. The "lock Box" is full of gov't IOU"s.
They don't actually, just take the money, They "borrow" it, and give gov't Bonds or certificates to replace it.
Anyhow, the actual money winds up in the General Pork Barrel Fund, which is why SS reform is unpopular with our politicians.
This is also why they have a vested interest in inflation. Since the money is replaceed on a dollar for dollar basis, dollars from as long 50 years ago are replaced with dollars of present value.
Early last year, after having recieved one of the anti- reform letters from AARP, I wrote and urged my Rep (D) Henry Cuellar, Tx. to support SS reform. I recieved in reply a letter, adhering to the "Lock Box" myth.
I know he is smarter than his former opponent, Zero Rodriquez, But, I am still not sure whether he is parroting Dem Policy or really believes there is actual money in the "lock BOX".
There is no such thing as a Social Security trust fund.
OOOPS too late, it's already been spent...years ago.
SS is a joke. I took my SS statement and mapped it against the DOW. If I had invested what the gov't confiscated from me and had put those dollars in mutual funds, I'd have 9 times more today than what is in my SS fund.
Furthermore, I do not think the government needs to tell me how to save my money. They already steal 40% of my income in TAXES.
Then again, some folks like the nanny state to take care of them. Personally, I like freedom of CHOICE.
but the most of the country is too clueless.
I don't think its all cluelessness.
I think its apathy,hate, fear and selfishness too.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PING.
53 individuals should be on America's Most Wanted in order to form a more perfect union.
Social Security is the greatest fraud ever FORCED ON FREE PEOPLE.
I'm sure Kohl and Feingold voted their principles. Would that Republicans had such spine, being in the majority and all.
It is interesting that all of the political Cosmos may be found in this one instance. The Democrats elect unprincipled legislator-representatives that vote their principles in this case and we complain. We Conservatives are forced to elect Republican representatives that blow the political wind and still we complain.
The Democrats and Republicans, enabled by the media are the American cacocracy. Legislators must fear their wrathful constituency. Lynching is frowned upon, discipline at the ballot box is difficult.
Our elected officials have betrayed us. There is no Social Security. Have you checked on your official "retirement age"?
It's 70 for someone age 40 now. In other words, there is no Social Security. Policitians may talk about Social Security, but there is no Social Security. Your taxes are being confiscated and you will likely never see anything in return.
Oh yes, these elite priviliged individuals have their own retirement fund, fully paid and funded by our taxes.
Time for a revolution.
I live in TX. John Cornyn is great, Kay is okay.
What "Trust Fund"?
Since I'm in New Jersey, I didn't even have to look.
They should all be brought up on charges, a Senate investigation should be launced, accountability is the only way to make these jerks realize they work for us, not the other way around!
At one time, if I had invested $1,000 in Amazon, at the end of the year I would have made $19,000 - if I got out in time. If everything went right, you'd have 9x the money; or like some one I know, your $700,000 investment might now be worth $48,000. Again, higher potential yield comes with higher potential risk.
...more than half of the funds that existed during the past decade are in not business today. And this trend shows no signs of slowing, with nearly 900 funds giving up the ghost in the past three years alone, a rate that, if it continues, will produce another decade in which more than half of all equity funds cease to exist. John C. Bogle Founder and Former Chairman, The Vanguard Group
Each of the funds that failed were under professional management.
I hope when you did you calculations you included ALL fund fees and commissions.
there is no such thing as a social secirity surplus
There is. It is the difference between the amount collected in SS taxes and the amount paid out. SS is a pay as you go system. The "surplus" begins to decline in 2008 and by 2017, the amount paid out will be greater than the taxes collected. We will then have to borrow money to pay for the IOUs in the SS Trust Fund, which are non-marketable T-Bills, i.e, they can only be redeemed by the USG.
there is no surplus, though I do appreciate that you put in the world surplus in quotes....social security collects more in taxes than it pays out in benefits.
the remining is spent on govt programs with IOUS being put in place of the surplus. The budget deficit this year will be $400b, $600b if we didnt "raid the social security surplus"
If we did what the advocates wanted, the US govt would have to go out and borrow an additional $200b per year.
So its your choice, borrow more later to pay back the IOUS, or borrow more today to cover the larger deficit.
Because of the time value of money I prefer the latter.
""The stock market goes up over time but individual stocks can go down and funds fail at a surprisingly high rates. Its possible to do better in the private sector, but the risks are much greater too. If your particular investments fail leaving you destitute, what should the rest of us do with you? No doubt you think you're too smart for that to ever happen."'
you wouldnt be allow to invest in individual stocks, only funds..secondly, the program would be voluntary...so I'll thank you to keep you nose out of my private retirment plans.
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