Yes I would like that benefit when I retire. I'm 47 and have worked consistently since I was 15. But the problem is, from everything I've been able to gather, those programs WON'T be there when I retire. So how's that fair to me and millions like me?
I think there are a lot of scare tactics as it relates to social security, which is currently far more solvent than medicare. With some minor modifications, social security can be secured for several generations.
Maybe. But I think the key is keeping those monies out of the hands of politicians. Nothing I've seen over the past couple of decades leads me to believe that's always going to be the case. In fact, if some of the more dire economic predictions are even somewhat accurate, it's certainly within the realm of possibility to hear, in a few years, that SS and Medicare must be sacrificed to save the country. That's something I think most of my generation have at least tacitly accepted. Many of my contemporaries don't believe we'll retire and if we do, we don't have much faith that those programs will be there for us.
I agree that the monies should be kept out of the hands of the politicians. When SS was originally set up as a trust fund it was meant to be a seperate entity and that all revenue generated for ss would go directly into the trust fund and would be doled out accordingly once a person had reached retirement age. If you paid in a lot you got more in return....if you paid in a little, you got a little in return. My wife's grandmother worked at a cigarette store her entire life so her ss payments are like $600 per month. My grandfather worked shift work for 45 years at Copolymer in Baton Rouge and earned a nice living so his ss payments are more like $1800 per month. Somewhere along the way the politicians decided it was okay to "borrow" from the trust fund in order to fund their pet projects.....democrats included. If we can just get back to the original principles of ss and make it law that politicians cannot touch those funds it will remain solvent for everyone who has paid in. It might get bumpy for a few years while the boomers flush through the system but it will survive.
Anyone watch Bill Maher? He had a former Reagan budget man on by the name of David Stockman, who released a book in 08 I plan on getting now and reading called "the great deformation". He brought up a few points that nailed the United States. Government no longer represents the people. Government represents lobbyists. Max Baucus has something like 28 former aides that are now tax lobbyists. This guy is chairman of the senate finance committee. How is this legal? Obama talks a mean game but then continues to sell out the middle class. He, Romney, all these fuckers in Washington, the Congress, Senate, are all bought little bitches, save a few. The only difference between D and R in Washington is which lobbies they back.
Anyone interested in information on our debt should get Tyler Chessman's book. http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-United-States-Tyler-Chessman/dp/1453835768 The conclusions are purely based on data analysis.
Not according to thier (SSA) own projections. They are saying it will be bankrupt by 2037. Not that far away.
no, not that far away but if you read the second part of my post I said that with some minor modifications it can be made solvent for much longer. first thing we can do is make a law that the politicians cannot borrow from the ss trust fund for their pet projects. has been going on for decades and always under the table. secondly, we do need to make adjustments to the retirement age to account for the fact that people are living much longer. The second aspect of ss that needs to be addressed is the disability portion. this is the part that has become the de facto welfare. I have spoken on this at length in several other threads so I will spare you the long version.
