Posted on 02/25/2004 7:29:07 AM PST by hoosierboy
Edited on 04/29/2004 2:03:57 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned Congress Wednesday to take quick action to fix the nation's swollen budget deficit, saying it could impair the ability to pay Social Security benefits and weigh on the broader economy.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
so, we younger baby boomers and those below will again take the brunt of the finacial boondagle that is social security...
now, we will work longer, harder and still get less.....the joke is on us....
whenever they say they are going to "fix" Social Security, I run for cover because all the fix is is people like me working years longer and getting less....
boy, wouldn't it be nice to cut the benefits of those well off seniors now, instead making all the rest of us get shafted.....
we know darn well that there are those who never paid anything into SS and get benefits, those who come to these shores and immediately get benefits, millionaires who get benefits, and of course, a growing "disabled" population that seems to be able to enjoy life, vacation and golf, and travel, yet too "disabled" to work....
yes, its all sour grapes....
my simple stab at fairness is that you collect every penny you paid into SS TAX FREE but after that, since its all gravy, you pay income taxes on it where it would apply....
Is that too much to ask?
Everyone knows the SS is on the modernization block this year and during the next four.
The system is going to bust in ten years. Either taxes must be increased significantly, or the system must be modernized to the new realities.
those folks in Florida will have no changes to their expectations, but future retirees will need to invest some of what they send in now to help their own retirement situation.
A real change is needed.
There will be no cuts to people getting ready to retire or people in the system now. There simply will not be the same system for the future retirees.
They should not be angry for no reason, but the rats will do their best to get them that way.
I say this with all candor......your parents and grandparents should expect to help you out and leave you a nice sum of money...
if the eldest population, the richest segment of society, insists on supporting this SS scheme, they should be prepared to dole out the money to help younger people, since the younger people are getting the great screw job, IMO, by our Ss system and income taxes in general....
I intend to do that with my kids, am doing that in fact, even though I am far from SS....
Younger people have it hard enough as it is.
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned Congress Wednesday to take quick action to fix the nation's swollen budget deficit, saying it could impair the ability to pay Social Security benefits and weigh on the broader economy.
Not if you privatize SS with tax burden fully in view of the electorate.
The current federal tax system hides much of the tax burden behind the veil of consumer prices:
Make that burden visible to everyone, as in a retail sales tax, and watch the electorate come alive.
23%........... Current effective total federal tax rate with respect to consumption expenditure
14.91% ..... rate if Social Security and Medicare were eliminated
14% .......... rate if Nat'l Endowment for the Arts were eliminated
11.9%........ rate if Dept. of Education were eliminated
10% .......... rate if welfare were eliminated
9.8%.......... rate if foreign aid were eliminated
etc.
As tax rate on sales decreases the economic burden on retail items, the sales volumes and growth in the economy would be tremendous allowing even further reductions in tax rates below a less than 7% level defined by the enumerated powers of the Constitution.
That is what I perceive as the ultimate achievements possible under a National Retail Sales Tax structured in the manner of the revenue bill H.R.25. Simple common sense applied to the principal of TANSTAAFEL,( no free lunch, everyone participates in paying there way in proportion to the benefit the extract from their consumption.) encourages the natural change in attitudes required of the electorate as regards the burden of government largess in their lives.
- It is fairer to tax people on what they extract from the economy, as roughly measured by their consumption, than to tax them on what they produce for the economy, as roughly measured by their income
Hmmmmmm....... It's do able, with time and effort, once the blinders are removed from the electorate.
That will be coming, perhaps after the more modern system is implemented.
It must be considered as a cost control measure.
It would not help much tho, because those same folks are paying taxes on that income at a pretty high rate.
It will help some.
Government needs to get out of our lives, our wallets, and our banking accounts.
Greenspan needs to take a long hike and forget the way home.
people that say that must be teachers that sit at a desk all day, or bankers...
I am an RN in a busy hospital.....you really want me there when I am 66 or 67 or 68?...trying to lift people, reading the fine print on medicines?....I don't want to be there....
you people with easy jobs, be my guest, work til you 80...
I have an intensly physical, mental, and emotional job and I can't see being able to do it in my sixties....
I guess I can always go the Disability route, which is the only route the govt. is leaving for people with difficult work...
LOL!
He is like a blabbering idiot, but the rats always parse out stuff to make issues out of.
They look forward to his visits most of the time.
I do not know if anyone else could do better. The rats rarely understand what he says anyway. They get it wrong and we can embarrass them.
Nice wish list!:-)
Bottom line, the middle class people just keep getting screwed......
Muleteam1
I've seen some proposals that say that simply reducing COLA to be more in-line with inflation along with raising the caps on SS taxable income could easily add 30 years or more to SS's solvency, so I agree with you that fixing SS is relatively easy when compared with Medicare.
I don't know an easy, politically acceptable fix for medicare. My guess is that you'll see more efforts to shift into being a catastrophic program, along with means testing for high income / high wealth recipients.
from www.ssa.gov
President Bush’s proposed $8.53 billion administrative budget for the SSA is the largest increase submitted since we became an independent agency, and recognizes our 5.1% increase in productivity last year. In view of the current fiscal climate, with the demands of national defense and homeland security, the budget clearly demonstrates the President’s support for our programs, which touch the lives of nearly every American.
Jo Anne Barnhart, Commissioner of Social Security, released the following statement regarding President Bush’s Fiscal Year 2004 budget:
"Today, President Bush proposed an $8.53 billion administrative budget for the Social Security Administration (SSA). This is a 7.5% increase over the FY 2003 budget request. It becomes an 8.5% increase when you adjust for the estimated Medicare hearings costs in FY 2003 that are not in FY 2004. It is more than double the 4% increase the President is proposing for his overall 2004 budget, and is the largest increase submitted since SSA became an independent agency. "What a tremendous vote of confidence from our President! This is a large allocation of resources under any circumstances, but in this fiscal climate – especially with the compelling demands of national defense and homeland security – it is huge. It clearly demonstrates his support for our programs, which touch the lives of nearly every American. This budget will enable us to add 1,000 new SSA employees and over 300 new Disability Determination Service (DDS) employees.
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