Posted on 10/16/2010 5:02:19 AM PDT by Son House
The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration. It's time to start cashing them in.
For more than two decades, Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits — billions more each year.
Not anymore. This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes — nearly $29 billion more.
Sounds like a good time to start tapping the nest egg. Too bad the federal government already spent that money over the years on other programs, preferring to borrow from Social Security rather than foreign creditors. In return, the Treasury Department issued a stack of IOUs — in the form of Treasury bonds — which are kept in a nondescript office building just down the street from Parkersburg's municipal offices.
Now the government will have to borrow even more money, much of it abroad, to start paying back the IOUs, and the timing couldn't be worse. The government is projected to post a record $1.5 trillion budget deficit this year, followed by trillion dollar deficits for years to come.
..."Those bonds are protected by the full faith and credit of the United States of America," Kennelly said. "They're as solid as what we owe China and Japan."
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Democrats should tell us to do if an option like a private account is so risky. Democrats only criticize any solutions. How can they expect people to buy that they are going to quit writing IOU's and pay it back, when Democrats have ran up debt to over 12 Trillion?
Expecting anything else is pure denial..
It was never robbing Peter to pay Peter.. Paul was always "the Mark"...
Social Security(SSA) is now and always will be PURE SOCIALISM..
SS would not be in trouble if it weren’t for the congress ‘borrowing’ from it, and allowing the millions of future workers to be aborted.
BTW there will probably be no COLA raise for retired Military either, there wasn’t one last year when the feds didn’t give a SS COLA raise to seniors.
The way they pay it back is by cashing in the non-market T-bills in the SSTF using money from the General Fund. SS is unsustainable because of structural defects, not the accounting system.
By 2030 one in every five americans will be 65 or older, twice what it is today. In 1950 there were 16 workers for every retiree, today there are 3.3, and by 2030 there will be two.
How can this be? Didn't VP Joe and Senator Harry just tell us that the social security system was solvent?
Sarcasm Off.
Bottom line:
There is entirely too much orphan money in the social security trust fund for politicians to ignore. The solution lays in today's information world.
We now have the pieces in place to establish individual social security accounts for every American citizen.
Every American citizen shortly after birth has to get a social security number so their parents can claim them as dependents on the 1040.
As mandated in the health care scam we have to report all transactions above six hundred dollars on forms that use the social security numbers.
We now have the computational capability to track all of the accounts via high speed and high capacity computers.
So why don't we?
The ruling class couldn't withstand the resulting anger from the rest of us.
They couldn't hide the wholesale robbery because all of those orphan dollars (IOUs actually) would be owned by someone thus giving them standing in any and all legal proceedings.
They would lose their ability to buy votes in large masses, the first requirement to stay in power.
They couldn't hide the vast numbers of illegal immigrants.
The number of new illegal immigrants would go down because there is little to no advantage of being illegal.
All of the above would result in a revolutionary shift in political power that would displace all of the current ruling class.
Any questions why it hasn't been done nor will it ever be done?
QED
But...but...Dirty Harry said everything was fine with Social Security!
The Supreme Court has established that no one has any legal right to Social Security benefits. The Court decided, in Flemming v. Nestor (1960), that "entitlement to Social Security benefits is not a contractual right".
"2. A person covered by the Social Security Act has not such a right in old-age benefit payments as would make every defeasance of "accrued" interests violative of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Pp. 608-611. (a) The noncontractual interest of an employee covered by the Act cannot be soundly analogized to that of the holder of an annuity, whose right to benefits are based on his contractual premium payments. Pp. 608-610. (b) To engraft upon the Social Security System a concept of "accrued property rights" would deprive it of the flexibility and [363 U.S. 603, 604] boldness in adjustment to ever-changing conditions which it demands and which Congress probably had in mind when it expressly reserved the right to alter, amend or repeal any provision of the Act. Pp. 610-611. 3. Section 202 (n) of the Act cannot be condemned as so lacking in rational justification as to offend due process. Pp. 611-612. 4. Termination of appellee's benefits under 202 (n) does not amount to punishing him without a trial, in violation of Art. III, 2, cl. 3, of the Constitution or the Sixth Amendment; nor is 202 (n) a bill of attainder or ex post facto law, since its purpose is not punitive. Pp. 612-621
Anyone believe we're gonna go 27 more years before the house of cards collapses?
Won’t all those Zombie voters just love that?
Nope, we won’t make it 27 more years.
I wonder what will happen to those presently retired and dependent on Social Security.
What will they do when the checks stop?
You have just proved my point that all funds in the “social security lock box” are orphans. Until every dollar is “owned” by an individual who can bring court action, either individually or as a class action suit, the money stolen from us will be spent as the most liberal Congress critter sees fit.
Yes, IMHO, stolen is the correct word since the money is extracted from our personal labor on the “promise” “backed by the full faith of the Federal Government” that it would be available to us at some later date.
I find it most interesting that this 1960, Eisenhower era, Supreme Court finding isn't the center piece in American History classes as an example of how fraudulent the government has become.
>>Social Security(SSA) is now and always will be PURE SOCIALISM..<<
Oh really? Originally as set up the money paid into SS was to be put into an investment fund like US Savings Bonds were. It was not to be spent on anything else. If that had stayed the case the SS would have more money then needed.
As an example: If I had been allowed to keep that money and invest it myself I would now have over $2.5 million in a retirement account. That takes into account all the money I have had taken from me since 1967 when I first started working plus accrued interest taking bond rates over the years. I am now 62 and if I began to take out the maximum SS amount allowed it would cover me for 136 years.
If the government had been true to the original contract of SS there would be excess funds for hundreds of years.
You obviously haven’t given much thought or research to your comment.
***Sounds like a good time to start tapping the nest egg. Too bad the federal government already spent that money over the years on other programs, preferring to borrow from Social Security rather than foreign creditors.***
What’s the matter? Don’t yu trust the Government on SS? Would they really lie to you and steal the funds?
Here is what was printed in 1964 by the SS Adminsitration...
http://www.ssa.gov/history/ssa/usa1964-2.html
Self-Supporting
“The program is designed so that contributions plus interest on the investments of the social security trust funds will be sufficient to meet all of the costs of benefits and administration, now and into the indefinite future—without any subsidy from the general funds of the Government. Both the Congress and the Executive Branch, regardless of political party in power, have scrupulously provided in advance for full financing of all liberalizations in the program.”
And here is where your hard earned money went!
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/ProgData/fundFAQ.html#n4
One thing.. the social security trust has been pilfered from almost immediately after it was started.. It was set up to be stolen.. It was a ruse... Only PollyAnna republicans were fooled.. Its still that way.. Only republicans believe there is such a thing as "bi-partisan".. democrats know it is a ruse for the rubes...
Social Security was, is now and will remain PURE SOCIALISM..
Not like socialism but actually "pure socialism"..
The progressives have been manipulating since before 1900...
And some of them were and ARE republicans..
>>Not like socialism but actually “pure socialism”..<<
Take a lesson from life son. As it was sold to get it signed into law it was only for those who paid in with a few provisions for those affected prior to the bill but only as a one time payment. The unemployment insurance was then “tacked on” to get it passed.
>> One thing.. the social security trust has been pilfered from almost immediately after it was started.. <<
So you would agree with me that future retirement benefits should be privatized in some way?
The true changes began in the 50s and it’s gone downhill since. I maintain that those who paid in should still be afforded the benefits of the promises they were made. Those who have no way of rebuilding what they thought were secure funds can not be ignored in any restructuring. Restructuring however, must be done. Government cannot be trusted under any circumstances.
In some way leaves too much room for options..
The current federal political enviorment is too toxic to do anything..
SSA should be state monitored and not federal and by private insurance.. spread over 50 States.. Still a States machine could steal it all but that States citizens would be at fault for electing the machine.. other states could remain clean..
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