Posted on 05/12/2009 12:43:03 PM PDT by justlurking
The financial health of Social Security and Medicare, the government's two biggest benefit programs, have worsened because of the severe recession, and Medicare is now paying out more than it receives.
Trustees of the programs said Tuesday that Social Security will start paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2016, one year sooner than projected last year, and the giant trust fund will be depleted by 2037, four years sooner.
Medicare is in even worse shape. The trustees said the program for hospital expenses will pay out more in benefits than it collects this year and will be insolvent by 2017, two years earlier than the date projected in last year's report.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Re: “When I say “boomers fault”, it’s a joke. I lay every problem this country has at the feet of liberals and liberalism......and that’s not a joke”
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I knew what you meant — unfortunately a lot of younger people DO see boomers and even current soc. sec./Medicare recipients as criminals who have grabbed up all the goodies and now there’s nothing left.
I’ve heard these whiners in various places, and my 82 year old mother in law hears it weekly at her local beauty shop. She gets mad, and speaks up — I think she should cease visiting that shop altogether, but she just tells them they would have “no clients” if not for her and her elderly peers. Good for her!
Never. They couldn’t collect FICA taxes that way. How far can you get in life without a social security card?
Assuming Obama leaves office instead of becoming dictator for life, he’ll leave a fiscal crisis infinitely more dire than the one he allegedly inherited.
Both of these problems are easy to fix, although Medicare is harder than Social Security. For those that are not near retirement, just make the retirement age later. The younger the worker, the geater the adjustment should be. When FDR started Social Security, the average lifespan was about 65 years, and now it is well in excess of 70 years. For those workers less than 40 years old, make the retirement age whatever the average life expectancy is today (with no option for early retirement). For those that are 60 or older, make no change, For those in between, make a proportionate change.
Just remember, there is nothing in the so-called trust funds except government debt. Why should today’s young people pay for the healthcare and retirement of able-bodied seniors who can keep working and pay their own way. There is no reason except that some folks have relied on Social Security being there at an early age and have planned their financial affairs accordingly.
“Well I am 66, so there is a fair chance that SS will outlive me!”
You probably are right. I tend to be more pessimistic about SS.
Someone forgot the laugh meter. Anyone mentioning entitlements and trust funds should draw an immediate and thundering laugh.
The pols haven’t dealt with these big government programs, despite knowing for decades that it was a trainwreck coming. Because this administration never wants to let a panic go to waste, it has a great excuse to continue the destruction of our nation.
It is not a fair solution in any sense. My rate of return will be paltry as it is. Raising the retirement age will make the system an even worse deal.
Politically, raising the retirement age may be the only feasible solution. I am not convinced that gradually increasing the retirement age will solve the problem. I have not studied the math but the solution does not ring true to me.
A much better idea is to allow individuals to opt out in exchange for elimination of benefits. Slowing the growth of inflation is also important. Average wage indexing is crazy. No other pension has average wage indexing. The reason it is used for Social Security is to increase payroll taxes. The politicians like an easy way to raise taxes.
They just dumped Trillions of our dollars into the international banks...Surely they can throw a measly few billion into Social Security...
I've had two heart attacks and am in Congestive Heart Failure, so I'm not being all that optimistic.
The most pathetic part is what politicians tell us about SS every time they’re running for office. And the libs at AARP provide a cover story every time.
“the giant trust fund”
There is no trust fund. Shoddy reporting and a huge misconception by the American people.
They owe SS $2.2 Trillion????????? No wonder they are going broke.
bttt
Medicare is now paying out more than it receives. Trustees of the programs said Tuesday that Social Security will start paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2016, one year sooner than projected last year, and the giant trust fund will be depleted by 2037, four years sooner. Medicare is in even worse shape. The trustees said the program for hospital expenses will pay out more in benefits than it collects this year and will be insolvent by 2017, two years earlier than the date projected in last year's report.So, the gov't can't even maintain and operate the alleged health care system and pension system it already has, and yet the Demwits claim even more needs to be done.
To piss you off even more, wifey's stats: May 8, 1947 -- she's on the tit too.
Dragnet, you've been double-hosed; and that's just by two FReepers.
From an article I Posted on Tuesday, April 28, 2009
An economics professor said he had never failed a single student before but had, once, failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said, okay, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism.
All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A. After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.
But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied little... The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
The scores never increased, as bickering, blame, name calling all resulted in hard feelings, and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great; but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
I don’t think it can be any simpler than that...
You best get back to Dancing with the Stars...
This has been well-known for half a decade, and predictable for 15 years. Nevertheless, I don’t recall a single word of this being discussed by any politician the last, devastating go-around (except one that was routinely mocked on this forum).
The swan song of America will be our politicians continuing to pull on this, the ultimate of straw-man!
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