Which federal program took in more than it spent last year, added $95 billion to its surplus and lifted 20 million Americans of all ages out of poverty?
Why, Social Security, of course, which ended 2011 with a $2.7 trillion surplus.
That surplus is almost twice the $1.4 trillion collected in personal and corporate income taxes last year. And it is projected to go on growing until 2021, the year the youngest Baby Boomers turn 67 and qualify for full old-age benefits.
So why all the talk about Social Security “going broke?” That theme filled the news after release of the latest annual report of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds, as Social Security is formally called.
The reason is that the people who want to kill Social Security have for years worked hard to persuade the young that the Social Security taxes they pay to support today’s gray hairs will do nothing for them when their own hair turns gray.
That narrative has become the conventional wisdom because it is easily reduced to a headline or sound bite. The facts, which require more nuance and detail, show that, with a few fixes, Social Security can be safe for as long as we want.
Don't worry I will still make time to deal with the Lunatic from Lake Lucille when she rears her road kill bedecked noggin, but I think right now she has to be considered more of a side show freak type distraction then a major concern as we head toward November.
There are bigger, and nastier fish to fry.
Everything the republicans have been telling us are turning out to be lies.Isn't it time to bounce all of them? Enough is enough with this bull shit.
ReplyDeleteI was hearing this same nonsense about SS going broke back in the 70s and 80s. They really think we are stupid.
ReplyDeleteRight on Gryph! The lies have already started. Factual info will prevail. As for Palin, I think Fox is sick of her blubbering. It does not help their party and since she can't seem to endorse Mittens (her rabid fans would freak the fuck out), she is silenced.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sick of all the lies that are put out there by the Republicans. There is no way they are going to hold court in the upcoming election.
ReplyDeleteGet the Republicans out of the U.S. Cogress - they are nothing more than obstructionist and racist.
Vote for President Obama in November! He is doing a splendid job in spite of them!
It''s because the Rich want thaat Fucking Mooney! If Republicans had their way in 2005 under George W(orst President Ever) Bush that $2,700,000,000,000 would have been quickly shuffled around and stolen by the Wall Street Thieves and Banksters!
ReplyDeleteThe real reason is because they would like to privatize it so the Wall Street crowd can get their hands on YOUR money for THEIR high-risk investment schemes, wherein when they fuck up YOU LOSE YOUR money/safety net and THEY walk away with big profits and NO penalties!
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail on the head.
DeleteMy husband has 35 years with a major chemical company and will retire with an account worth a million or so (yes, we saved a LOT over the years, and thanks to the prudent investments of the company, it has grown despite Bush's best efforts.) we have had a financial planner for 5 years, and I know he is drooloing over getting his hands on that money, along with the other investments we have there. I am going to try to get my husband to remain in control of our account. And as for the GOP, I hope the pile of lies grows until it topples over and smothers all of you. You are a bunch of greedy, dirty lying creeps, and you will NOT control this country come November.
ReplyDeleteThank you for helping to get ammunition lined up Gryph.
ReplyDeleteOh, if only gray hair entitled me to SS benefits!
ReplyDeleteJust think how much we would have if all income was taxed (I thought Conservatives favored a flat tax on all income)
ReplyDeleteThe GOP has been dying to get their hands on and plunder SS for years. Remember several years back when GW wanted to borrow (STEAL) all the SS money?
ReplyDeletePresident George W. Bush made a shocking assertion back in 2005 when he was pushing to privatize Social Security. “A lot of people in America think there is a trust,” he said, “that we take your money in payroll taxes and then we hold it for you and then when you retire, we give it back to you. But that’s not the way it works. There is no trust fund — just IOUs ….”
Congress decided to “borrow” the surplus instead of investing. They’ve been using it to help pay for things that have nothing to do with Social Security, things the political establishment and tax-averse Americans wanted but didn’t want to pay for: invasions, education, highway repairs and so on. And, without giving any thought to paying the surplus money back, the federal government has been trading it for special Treasury bonds that politicians used to assure us were safe in a lockbox.
http://www.sentinelsource.com/opinion/editorial/who-borrowed-the-social-security-taxes-we-paid/article_691d6976-e4a1-5d21-96d3-aa8871f86c92.html
Ive always wondered why there are reports often about how bankrupt it is. Thoughwe cant trust any politicians or people who write about them. Oh bias.
ReplyDeleteConservative really is the lesser of two evils. I was in a gas station today. The counter man was telling some chick to leave and she was saying "dude yo, you sold me cigs last week." He replied, "I card. Thats impossible. How old are you?"
She says, "Thats not important."
These sorts of people are always assumed to be voting democrats, if they vote. This is why we cannot stereotype reps or dems.
Uh Krusty...I think you may have been sniffing some of that gas at the gas station...as usual...your stupid ass stories don't make sense! Get some help..ya nut! LOL!!!
DeleteRepublicans are fucked! The have lied about EVERYTHING that if they ever told the truth no one would believe their lying asses!
I'm loving this long silence from Baldy...may she continue to keep her big trap shut....AMEN!
"Conservative really is the lesser of two evils. I was in a gas station today. The counter man was telling some chick to leave...These sorts of people are always assumed to be voting democrats, if they vote. This is why we cannot stereotype reps or dems."
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You just did, you stupid, damned, bigoted fool. Go grow a brain.
You got it Nutball...all income should be taxed....:)
ReplyDeleteThe GOP's only issue with Social Security is that they haven't been able to use it to make money off the stock market.
I agree with most everything you say. I find your opinions right on the mark. Respectfully you missed the mark on this one. It's simple demographics. SS will be in serious trouble when the baby boomers finish retiring.
ReplyDeleteThat said keep up the good work. This ss issue is not a battle to be fought. There are so many other definable lies out there that need to be exposed.
Two questions and thoughts to consider:
ReplyDelete1) If Ron Paul's people are trying to become delegates, is there a certain qualification for becoming one for President Obama? The Repub/Koch strategy for 2008 was to go after all the governor races and now I understand why. Is the delegate strategy the same?
2) I honestly believe the Koch brothers are trying to become their father's legacy and are doing everything they can to reinvent the conditions in which their father prospered so they can do the same.
By what measure have the Kochs not prospered?
DeleteThis is "news you can use" worthy.
ReplyDeleteThe President's campaign is doing an amazing job, I know things are going to get nasty, but they're doing a great job of making sure Mitt stays cornered. MSNBC was great, President Obama already has spanish language ads, and very good ones, in several states.
Romeny's go to "hispanic vote organizer" said "We're still working on a strategy" then took to twitter to walk it back. Obama is running the country, and hit the ground running, with a plan in place. Romney's shaking his etch a sketch and making flubs everywhere he goes.
Revitalizing Social Security For Current & Future Generations In America
ReplyDeleteWhile the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and the Republican Presidential Primary are unfolding across America, there have been several suggestions as to what types of reform which should be proposed and enacted.
Why not adopt a comprehensive approach and simultaneously use these historic moments in the U.S. to ensure the solvency of our great nation’s most successful economic, domestic program, Social Security?
One of the provisions in the Balanced, Equitable, Solvent, Tested (BEST) Social Security Modernization (Mod) Plan was designed to look at the way modern America works and earns a living in the 21ST century.
It calls for repealing sections 211 (1) (2) and (3) of the 1935 Social Security Act. These are the three sections of the Act which exclude income from real estate rentals, corporate dividends, and stock market capital gains from being subject to paying the Social Security taxes that every other hard working American is required to pay. (Long term gains will be excluded from the revised earnings definition.)
Requiring the recipients of these types of earned income to pay their fair share of taxes will help to insure that the hugely successful Social Security program will remain fully solvent for generations to come.
Exactly what will this Correction to the Social Security Act accomplish?
First, it will require payment of the 15.3% Social Security Self Employment/Medicare tax. (Employees pay a 7.65% Social Security/Medicare tax.) Those who have these types of currently excluded earnings typically have much longer working careers than those who perform hard physical labor. This also means more years of contributions to the Social Security/Medicare trust funds.
Second, once these earnings are properly defined as earned income, not only will they be subject to Social Security taxes, but they will, then be subject to paying federal income taxes at the rates that wages are presently taxed, and the 1.45% Medicare tax which is not subject to the current payroll tax cap. Currently a hedge fund manager may pay a total of only 15% tax on her/his earnings. However, once defined as wages/self employment, these earnings will be subject to 15.3% Social Security tax, the additional 1.45% Medicare tax on all earned income, plus the federal income tax rates of 25-35% that other hard working Americans have long been required to pay.
This is not a tax increase! These are currently existing taxes and tax rates. Why should stock market gamblers and insiders, who are working at earning a living, pay total taxes of 15% while other workers pay 32-50% tax rates? Let’s make taxation fair for all.
Ask your Congressman to support and enact the BEST Social Security Mod Plan.
There are many more thoughtful and effective provisions contained in this plan, including making the payroll tax more progressive. To learn more about making Social Security permanently solvent without increasing the retirement age or reducing benefits, request the BEST Social Security Mod Plan Fact Sheet at BestSocialSecurity@juno.com .
Ken Swiatek, Retired Social Security Administration Manager & Analyst
They've always wanted to privatize it so the banksters can get that 7 trillion traunch of money. Just think bank speculation and rape/pillage when you see the word (R)
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