Posted on 03/12/2011 1:53:02 PM PST by neverdem
” It’s well known that the feds started grabbing that money for the Treasury’s general obligations since the 1960s.”
Confiscate the wealth of the thieving politciians who stole it. Take LBJ’s estate - all of it.
Let’s start with the letter “K.” Confiscate the wealth of Kennedy, Kerry and Kohl. That should add a few billion to the trust fund.
By the time we’re done going from A to Z, we’d probably gather up a few trillion dollars.
Throw off all the crooks who get disability. Confiscate the wealth of the quacks and shysters who gamed the system to qualify these con artists for disability payments.
Sell off all property owned by the federal government, including national parks, forests and grazing land. Spaced over 40 years, that should be good for tens of trillions.
We do have wealth to tap.
I’d prefer that we pay off retirees when they hit 65. Give them a check for what they paid in, and then no more money. This can be paid for by selling off federal assets over the next 40 years. That way young workers won’t be forced to pay into SS.
“Yup. In the echo chamber of online forums and GOP/Tea Party gatherings many conservatives have convinced themselves that the American public has “grown up” and is ready for entitlement reforms.”
AGREE!! The people are not even close to being ready for entitlement reforms. Read some of the posts here, and you see “it’s all about me”, coming through loud and clear. And the destruction it will cause to the country does not matter a bit to them. They look at it as their money (even if spent years and decades ago) and that is it.
The ONLY hope for reform is for a STRONG majority of Republicans to shove it down this country’s throat in 2013. But I doubt they even get a chance...as the collapse will probably precede the next election...and so the Entire Country goes down (along with those Social Security recipients)...and all due to a “promise” that virtually everyone knew was a lie at the time, but could not accept the fact that it was REALLY a lie.
I see a good case for piling up tangible assets.
I’d increase retirement age, cap COLA’s at a few percent and then aggressively work on the elimination of entire programs.
I have 4 years worth of every non-perishable that I can think of, and 6 months of food (and if food isn’t around, I don’t really want to be here). I also have a rainwater collection system, and ways to dispose of human waste for a long time.
The dollar is still VERY STRONG, which is why I spent thousands on my stash. Once the dollar crashes, we will be frozen in place with what we have. No different than a major war...if you’re not ready, you can lose in days or weeks, long before you can start building tanks.
And finally, I expect Japan to pull the plug on us, due to the mess they’re dealing with us...and that will trigger everything crashing for us.
“I’d increase retirement age, cap COLA’s at a few percent and then aggressively work on the elimination of entire programs.”
As much as I don’t like it, I’d also want to means test, at least in a way that we don’t entirely wipe retirement accounts out (I know, that’s big of you, BobL)...but I do really want this country to see another day.
The government has tangible assets, lots of them - land and other real estate, businesses and business opportunities, mineral rights, patent rights - the list goes on and on.
We baby boomers must demand the government hold a garage sale to pay what they owe us and remove the need to steal from our children.
PAY ME THE MONEY must be our mantra.
You’ve got a good point, one I have made regarding state governments that may try to renege on their obligations. In the case of the states, these assets are often labeled “State Forests”.
Govtard story problem for you:
"BillBob the perpetual drunk can't afford to buy his daily likker for $10 anymore. He tells you he needs $5 more per day to break even. You give him $10 more a day, just to be safe."
How much money does BillBob the perpetual drunk have saved at the end of the month?
What would the means test apply to? Assets? Income? It would become a goddamned mess so quickly nobody could keep things straight. Also not mentioned is how clever the average American is at avoiding these things, using every means from trusts to physical assets to avoid detection. It would be interesting to see precisely how much money any projected means testing would save.
Se my post #29.
If we can’t defeat Baraq on $4 gas, 10% unemployment, skyrocketing food prices, and $1.5 trillion deficits, then we deserve him.
I believe most new plans leave 55+ alone. I was affected on the last change. If they have to change it again at least slowly graduate it in instead of just one big cliff. I, like all here, were forced into this plan.
The only people that try and maintain the illusion of the trust fund are Democrats and AARP. (actually that’s the same thing, LOL)
2012 campaign slogan
“Leavin’ the 70’s behind”
what’s with Krauthammer ? screw the means test.
“what’s with Krauthammer ? screw the means test.”
I suspect that he’s done the math and figured out that this country crashes, unless meaningful entitlement reform takes place. Once he reached that conclusion, it became a question of whether we should have seniors who didn’t save literally dieing on the streets.
...he was against that outcome.
Today, an SS salary cap of 106,800 one pays 10.4% or up to 11,200 a year in SS.
One of the proposal's floating around is to remove the salary cap and\or raise the rate.
the rich (whatever that is), contribute at least 11k a year, for let's say, 30 years, and lose it all in a means test ?
and that's ok with you ?
“the rich (whatever that is), contribute at least 11k a year, for let’s say, 30 years, and lose it all in a means test ?
and that’s ok with you ? “
Considering the alternative is turning this country into a Third World cesspool...it’s more than ok with me.
And you?
I don’t believe there are any SSAN which start higher than 6.
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