Posted on 06/23/2008 3:54:29 AM PDT by knighthawk
I think he was being sarcastic don’t you?
I know that’s not the way it works.
My point was that the ones who pay it it the most get the least back from it.
They hit up the ones who make over $250,000 and they will really be the ones getting screwed.
It would be nice to have that $200,000 + in my own savings/retirement account but I must subsidized the broodmares.
Re: “Stimulus check” notice.
We received two notices from the government. The first was a notice letting us know that we would be receiving the second notice telling us when to expect our “check”. The check came a week after the promised date.
America has become a nation “governed” by a ranting pack of politically correct whining idiots. It’s not a joking matter anymore. Our government is completely broken and something has to be done soon or we will all fall into the pit of stupidity where most of the politicians currently reside.
When are the adults going to show up?
We agree on the substance but perhaps not on tactics. If you accept our government is broken you leave open the hope that it can be "fixed". NO SIR!. It is not broken. This is the way government works IN THE BEST CASE! Governments are by nature corrupt, and corrupting. The only sane course for us is to prune it WAY back to its essentials.
That will be true for most of the young people. SS is a Ponzi scheme. It is also a pay as you go system. Those in retirement or nearing it will receive far more than they paid in.
The problem is that the system is structurally unsound. In 1950 there were 16 workers for every retiree, today there are 3.3 workers, and by 2030 there will two.
They hit up the ones who make over $250,000 and they will really be the ones getting screwed.
Right now the earnings cap for SS is $102,000. It goes up every year. In 2000 it was $76,000. If we lift the cap on SS or assess payroll taxes on those making over $250,000, it will affect not only the individual but also the employer. It is a huge tax. And it would have to include raising the benefits for those contributors. And the effect on the economy would be negative.
SS Contribution and Benefit Base
It would be nice to have that $200,000 + in my own savings/retirement account but I must subsidized the broodmares.
The only real solution is to get government out of the pension business, i.e., personal accounts. You could retain a small defined benefit system to cover disability and survivor benefits. Right now SS represents about an unfunded liability of $12 trillion. The SS Trust Fund is approx $2 trillion of our $9 trillion national debt. In 2017, SS will be paying out more than it is taking in, which will require Congressional action. The only question is what they will do.
If they kick the can down the road like they did last time in 1983 when this happened, they will raise taxes and reduce benefits, e.g., they raised the age for full benefits from 65 to 67. The 1983 fix was supposed to make SS solvent for 75 years. The reality is that 34 years later we will be in the same fix only worse. And Medicare is in even worse shape and on an order of magnitude three times the unfunded liabililty of SS. We are heading for a major train wreck.
It’s a gift we purchased at the point of a gun.
You can stop trying to educate me on SS. I am self employed and know how it works.
The $250,000 was based on BHO’s comments on his donut hole proposal for increasing the SS tax on the evil rich.
My point each time was that the “evil rich” are getting soaked paying into a system where they will never see even a small percent of what they paid in.
And my point(s) are that it is not only the "evil rich" who will not get back anywhere near what they paid into the system. Those under 30 will suffer the same fate. And Obama's proposal will affect far more than the "evil rich."
The dounut hole would close each year anyway. I am amazed how much of the media and politicians are unaware or at least pretend not to know that the cap goes up each year automatically. That is the problem with the entitlement programs: they are on automatic pilot pegged to formulaic increases out of control of congress and not related to revenues [except Medicare Part B.] One of the hidden costs of inflation and the recent energy costs increases is that the USG will have to foot a huge SS COLA increase. When your annual expenditures are $600 billion for SS, it has a major impact just like compound interest. And the number of retirees will double by 2030 to almost 75 million.
Removing Social Security's Tax Cap on Wages Would Do More Harm Than Good
You can stop trying to educate me on SS. I am self employed and know how it works.
Really?
I knew that also.
I knew that also.
And I also knew that.
If people want on or off this list, please let me know.
LOL. Yeah, sure you did.
As we say down south “Bless your heart.”
Because its the government.
The main BLS report on inflation includes food and energy. They do mention what the inflation rate would be if they were excluded.
Right. But the official CPI leaves out food and energy leaving people to believe everything is ok.
No it doesn't..
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