It is insane not to understand what is happening with the phony shell game. The lowering of the SS contribution (not tax) is using SS as a conduit for another unfunded stimulus bill. It is a scam.
SS is a pay as you go program, i.e., revenue is collected and benefits paid out. Right now SS is running in red and has been since 2010. It will continue to run into the red until all of the IOUs in the SSTF are exhausted around 2036. In order to make up the shortfall, the IOUs (non-market T-bills) in the SSTF must redeemed by the General Fund so benefits can be paid. 42 cents of every federal dollar spent must be borrowed so we are borrowing money to pay the benefits. It adds to the deficit and the national debt.
The politicians say that they will hold SS harmless and pay for loss of revenue by increasing taxes or fees. This is where the real scam comes in. They collect the money and use it for whatever they want over a ten year period while depositing more IOUs into the SSTF to make up the loss of revenue. In essence, this is the same scam that was used when SS was running a "surplus," i.e., revenues exceeed benefit payouts. The politicians deposited the surplus into the General Fund and spent it and issued IOUs in the amount of the surplus and deposited them into the SSTF, which is an unfunded liability that is reflected in our $15 trillion national debt.
So you are laboring under the false impression that you get to keep more of your own money, when in fact, you and your children and your grandchildren will be responsibile for paying it back. This is another scam to fool the people that they can get something for nothing. There is no free lunch. This is the SS Stimulus Bill and should be known as such.
You get it.
vaudine
” - - - There is no free lunch.”
This is one point that you and I can agree on.
For nearly 80 years, the Socialist/Con-Artist/Snake-Oil sales pitch has been “America will be better off with a cradle-to-grave Safety Net.”
From Northeastern Democrat FDR to Bolshevik Chairman Obama our Socialist Government has gotten larger, and our National Debt has gotten even larger than the rate of growth of the Socialist Wing of the former Democrat Party.
Today, the Socialist Wing of the US Federal Government overspends by 1.3 TRILLION dollars each year, and simply adds it to the National Debt to be paid for by our Grandchildren and their descendants.
These sorry, Federal politicians depend on the fact that we do not Impeach AND remove from office, or recall them.
Jail, of course is out of the question for the biggest thieves that the World has ever known: Elected Federal Politicians.
Due to the lack of curiosity on the part of the American taxpayer, and gullibility on the part of our sorry, brain-dead, Federal politicians, there exists the myth that somehow in a Nation with a 15 Trillion dollar Debt there exists a sacred “Trust” Fund for Social Security (see Reply # 21, this thread).
ALL OF ANY MONEY SENT TO DC GOES INTO THE GENERAL FUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NONE OF THAT MONEY GOES INTO A TRUST FUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THERE ARE NO, OR EVER HAVE BEEN, FEDERAL TRUST FUNDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE FEDERAL POLITICIANS CONTINUE TO LIE TO US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A “SHOW ME THE MONEY!” test quickly puts an end to this “Trust Fund” myth for ANY Federal Program.
There are no Federal Trust Funds, Santa Claus, or honor among the members of the Socialist-Democrat Wing of the once proud Democrat Party.
Will the former Southern Democrat Mentality return to the now useless Democrat Party? Let us hope so, as our disgusting RINO Political Party has just veered to the left of the philosophy of the former Southern Democrat Party.
The former proud Republican Political Party morphed into the sorry, “Republicans In Name Only” political party decades ago.
Now with “Leaders” McConnell and Boehner caving in to the Socialists/Bolsheviks, the RINO Party has set themselves adrift from the core values of what was the greatest Nation that the World had ever seen, The United States of America.
This is an excellent time for Presidential, Senate, and Representative Candidates of Honor to run for elected office.
We need some “King Arthurs” to pull the Sword of Liberty out of the Millstone of Socialism that is around the throat of every American.
Today, I heard Speaker of the House Boehner-Head defiantly proclaim “that there would be no more short-term deals.” Right, we believe that as much as we believed the GHWB pledge of: “Read my lips, NO-NEW-TAXES!”
I am reminded of kids in a school yard: “Now you quit it out! This is the last time that I am that I am going to let you take money from my piggy bank without telling Mom! I mean it! This time, I really, really mean it, you, you - - - booger-head!”
FDR’s Socialism has cruelly pierced deeper into the heart of America by every US President who has spent more per administration than the income for that same period, in other words: ALL OF THEM!
So here we are with our Socialist Safety Net, headquartered at 1600 Plantation Avenue, and a Total National Debt at more than 100 % greater than America’s Gross National Product.
Until the National Debt Clock starts running backwards, our SPENDAHOLIC Federal politicians will continue to spend every penny that they can tax us out of.
Thus, the first step is to starve the STEELY BEAST, otherwise known as The US Federal Government, is to reduce income.
The second step is for the damned Federal politicians turn to cut baseline Federal spending, year to year. (see Reply # 31, this thread.)
Yes, the con-artist politicians will go kicking and screaming into their usual hissy-fit, just like any spoiled brat would when his/her favorite toy is taken away.
Graewoulf will be smiling. How about you?
BTW, to clear up one point, in my humble, but ALWAYS correct opinion, any payment that I am forced to pay to any government at the point of their gun, is a tax. Try not paying your “fees” sometime, and then explain to all of us how we differ from the serfs/slaves on the Feudal Lands/Plantations of not so long ago.
So you are laboring under the false impression that you get to keep more of your own money, when in fact, you and your children and your grandchildren will be responsibile for paying it back.
Sorry, but when more of my money is left in my paycheck, my impression that I “get to keep more of my own money” is CORRECT, not “false.”
YOUR impression, that there is anything guaranteed about future Social Security benefits, is FALSE. “Entitlement reform” means CUTTING BENEFITS — and that’s what they’re going to be doing. I want to keep my own money to save for my own retirement, thank you. SS is a ponzi/income transfer/welfare program. If you think it’s great — and you want it “fully funded” — then you must LOVE Obamacare!
“- - - 42 cents of every federal dollar spent must be borrowed - - - “
Would it be accurate to say then, that the US Federal Government operated at a 42 % loss last fiscal year?
Would it also be accurate to say that the US Federal Government has a negative 42 % net profit margin for the last fiscal year?