Social Security, Medicare to run out sooner NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The trustees of Social Security and Medicare now estimate that the Social Security trust fund will be exhausted in 2040 while the Medicare trust fund will be depleted in 2018, slightly sooner than previously forecast. CNNMONEY ---------------------------- Ok will we now revisit the idea of reforming or finding alternatives to social security?
Close the tax loopholes that allow corporations and individuals to pay little tax. Cut down on military spending ** But yes a healthcare system that cost the amount it does but seems to not cover so many needs reform.
Abolition of social security needed. If people would invest their own money over their lifetime instead of the government, they would have more money when they retired. The government sucks at investing and pretty much everything else. Redistribution of wealth by the government is just socialism.
Beyond The problem is that while some people might invest for the future others will put it off some might invest it wisely and be able to pay for later, but some investments don’t work. So the state ends up with many people that have no money to look after themselves when they are old and at a time when they need the most care. What do you do let them die? ** And what is wrong with socialism?
For those familiar with the history of U.S social security,did FDR or anyone during the 30's anticipate any type of future problems with SS? If so,what were the concerns that were brought up back then with SS?
The Trust Fund is a meaningless concept, in reality there has never been a trust fund. Privatise, privatise, privatise.
I'am wondering if SS would work better if it had been intended only for retired people who need it for financial emergencies instead of just giving it to all regardless of their financial situation?
I don't have any suggestion for solving the social security debacle. However, I agree with SunLion. Regardless of whether or not that would assist social security, I think churches SHOULD be taxed. All these fucking (YES! Profanity!) evangelical churches built the size of stadiums http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8565629 with thier own television stations/radio stations, and 10,000+ congregations............WHY AREN'T THEY TAXED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In my humble opinion, once a church reaches a congregation of 500+ it should begin paying taxes. These aren't houses of worship, they are tax shelters for the bible belt.
Abolition of social security needed. I very disagree strongly. The Social Security program has been one of the most effective enterprises in human history. It really does rank up there with the use of fire, and inventions of the wheel, lever, pulley, and printing press. Eliminating it? Yeah, it's being done, the death benefit didn't cover the cost of a trash can for a deceased person, and even it's being eliminated. Jeez, even the Neandertals took care of their dead. If people would invest their own money over their lifetime instead of the government But people don't. And punishing people seems to be the only concept that binds the Republican party together. Identify some group that's statistically a minority, and FUCK with 'em. Make 'em SUFFER a little. Try keeping a family afloat when one of the family suffers a catastrophic illness, death, or some horrendous disease. If it's in our reach, we try to relieve human suffering NOW rather than a possible later. So no, the guy who makes $8.50 an hour, and spends a few hundred a month on medical copays while feeding a wife and three kids isn't going to be a very good Halliburton investor. But fuck him, it's the Republican Way. The government sucks at investing and pretty much everything else. They just don't suck nearly as badly as the private sector. Check your mailbox for spam sometime, if you think the private sector isn't inherently worse. But hey, you could be right, maybe our futures should be gambled into the hands of Halliburton and Enron. Redistribution of wealth by the government is just socialism. Well, that "socialism" turned this society from one based on farmers who worked 19-hour days and who could starve if their pigs didn't fuck, to what was once the greatest nation on earth. One that put men on the moon. A nation that led advances in medicine and materials science that were beyond even the scope of imagination when my parents were my age. But the "anti-socialist" neocons are dragging us back to the pig farms again. And if they have their way, there will really be nothing left of America. Except war, guns, hatred of gays, and of course, JESUS. Republicans focus their ire on Social Security because if they can destroy that, they've truly destroyed compassion in this country. And it's good old fashioned American compassion, not "socialism" that is their real enemy. Be careful about repeating Libertarian mantras. They're poisonous and treacherous.
Is anyone familiar with this? it sounds interesting. A model for Social Security reform By Ray Holbrook with Alcestis "Cooky" Oberg The current debate about reforming Social Security reminds me of the discussions that occurred in Galveston County, Texas, in 1980, when our county workers were offered a different, and better, retirement alternative to Social Security: They reacted with keen interest and some knee-jerk fear of the unknown. But after 24 years, folks here can say unequivocally that when Galveston County pulled out of the Social Security system in 1981, we were on the road to providing our workers with a better deal than Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. When I was county judge in 1979, many county workers were concerned about the soundness of Social Security, as many people are today. We could either stay with it — and its inevitable tax increases and higher retirement ages — or find a better way. We sought an "alternative plan" that provided the same or better benefits, required no tax increases and was risk-free. Furthermore, we wanted the benefits to be like a savings account that could be passed on to family members upon death. Our plan, put together by financial experts, was a "banking model" rather than an "investment model." To eliminate the risks of the up-and-down stock market, workers' contributions were put into conservative fixed-rate guaranteed annuities, rather than fluctuating stocks, bonds or mutual funds. Our results have been impressive: We've averaged about 6.5% annual rate of return over 24 years. And we've provided substantially better benefits in all three Social Security categories: retirement, survivorship, disability. Our plan vs. Social Security Upon retirement after 30 years... LINK
