Replies

>It is not entitlement to expect a promised return on an investment.

Ok, then please explain where that money is going to magically come from. You do realize that all government income is from current taxpayers right?

Social Security is not an investment. It has no principle. It is a Ponzi scheme rigged out to perform a Welfare function.

Oh, and I hate to break it to you, but Medicare is funded in the same way as Social Security, with a payroll tax. It’s just even more insolvent.

Though I admit that it’s a positive sign you’re making progress in that you see Medicaid as an entitlement. It gives me hope that you’ll figure out Social Security eventually as well.

Ok, then please explain where that money is going to magically come from.

I'm starting to think that there are some Freepers who believe that SS and Medicare employ a department of magic dwarves, busily spinning straw into gold to keep the programs solvent.

Except that they would need to create so much gold that it would drive the price down to a few bucks a pound....

Ok, then please explain where that money is going to magically come from. You do realize that all government income is from current taxpayers right?

All government debt must eventually be paid by future taxpayers. I think that's obvious to most people, even if they don't want to admit it.

But, here's the problem: you are proposing that the burden of solution be imposed on a small set of people. You are belittling their claim of ownership without acknowledging that their claim really isn't any more valid than anyone else's.

Rather than insisting that those of us that acted responsibly in the past must now accept more responsibility (for the benefit of the deadbeats of all kinds), let's talk about who should share this sacrifice:

Federal pensions: Like Social Security, these are unfunded. By some accounts, it's almost as large as Social Security's unfunded liability.
Government bonds. The Social Security "trust fund" is literally a stack of special US Treasury bonds in someone's file cabinet in a government office. If the government is going to default on those, why not all the others?
Other entitlement programs. If we can't afford to pay back people who contributed with the promise of a future return, then why are we giving money out to people who never contributed anything?
Government payroll: When my company hit hard times, they laid off some people and reduced the salary (REDUCED, not just froze the growth) of the others. Why should government employees be immune?

My point is that if sacrifice is to be made, it must be shared by everyone: not just the ones that are politically powerless to stop it. Otherwise, the proponents are nothing more than armed robbers using the federal government as the weapon.