[mountainfolk]

One of the most entertaining and interesting threads I've read in awhile. Angst all over the place. One thing that is not being addressed is the fact that not all of SS taxes go for retirement payouts. Social Security covers payments to retarded children, widows , widowers, orphans, disabled persons, some premature babies, persons with emotional disorders, and a multitude of other programs that have been grafted on to the system. If all of the retirees currently collecting SS benefits were to (all at the same time)take the 'eternal dirt bath' that Boortz speaks of, the SS taxes would not stop. Sorry about that, but matters are worse than you may have thought!

[Cacique]

bttfl

[Aquinasfan]

America's elderly have never had it so good. They enjoy better health than any previous generation of old people, high incomes and ample assets, access to a host of medical treatments that not only keep them alive but let them enjoy their extra years, and a riotous multitude of ways to spoil their grandchildren. Still they are not content.

That's my mother-in-law to a T. She's been sitting on her butt for 20 years watching soap operas, going to the casinos and pissing and moaning. She's got plenty of money, but my wife and I thought we'd do her a favor and let her live with us. Big mistake. It's been seven years, but she's finally moving out in a week or two. Merry Christmas to us!

Her main complaints:
My wife makes her take her shoes off in the house.
The heat is too low.
She has to sort her recyclables.

Really. I'm not kidding.

Grandpa Simpson said it best: "I'm old. Gimme!"

[wasp69]

bumped for later reading

[adx]

Load Social Security with more obligations than it can bear, and our precious offspring will be squashed under the weight. To fund all the obligations of the Social Security system, payroll taxes will have to more than double by 2040—on top of whatever it costs to buy all those prescription drugs. At that point, our children will realize the trick we've pulled and start to hate our guts.

They'll probably do more than that. Involuntary euthanization for those that cost too much to fix, or those above a certain age, anyone?

PS: Not saying I support that, but it wouldn't surprise me if it came to pass.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

Go suck eggs. When SS was founded all those 65 or older couldn't take advantage of it. Oh, Well. What about those who since 1935 when they were all of 10 yrs. old and have been paying into SS ever since 1955, when they went to work,
who are receiving meager benefits for the investment? It is not charity or an entitlement it is their money. Their life's saving in most instances. I know pure conservatives are going to scream "Unconstitutional". Again, oh well, it is and it has been since 1935. Tell it to the mountain.

[liberallyconservative]

This is only food for thought, but I hope all here on this thread will take the time to look at a real-life scenario: my mom.

Mom is 76 years old, widowed, and living entirely on SS. (My father had no retirement plan & left her in some financial straits that took me several years to pay off after his death.)

Her monthly check is not quite $900. She is a cancer survivor, but still has other medical problems which require nearly $300 in meds monthly. Due to numerous hospitalizations (and the inherent co-pays that Medicare does not cover), she pays $130 monthly for supplemental insurance. So nearly half of her money is "gone" before we even begin to address the issues of normal living expenses.

Needless to say, my brother and I supplement her income as best we can just so she can continue to to lead a fairly comfortable existence, but it's HARD on all involved.

There are no easy answers. I know that it won't be long before she will have to move in with me, but she wants to remain independent as long as she can.

Please don't think I'm complaining; Mom has sacrificed all her life to provide for her family. It's the least I can do to see that she is provided for in her advancing years.

[bc2]

.

[Phaedrus]

It bothers me, a lot, when I see our politicians borrowing money that my kids and grandkids will have to repay and spending it to buy votes. The across-the-board greed is appalling. The money won't be repaid. And the Republicans are no better than the Democrats. Democracy is failing because the Takers are outnumbering the Producers and Givers -- and include in the Takers every recipient of any government dollar beginning with millions of government employees. We may be talking Civil War II. We most certainly are talking Hard Times.

[Phaedrus]

This is how and why democracy breaks down. People who vote are allowed to vote their self-interest and make it pay. "Interest groups" are glorified. Politicians are encouraged to buy the votes of those who don't contribute. It doesn't add up. There will always be more seemingly justifiable ways to spend money than to earn it or save it. It IS a ponzi scheme. And a Self-Fulfilling Lie. It ain't gonna be pretty. Unless we wake up and grow up. Fast.

Nasty article BTW.

[Zack Nguyen]

For the majority of people, that means lots of time being supported by the government.

This is the dirty little secret - I've heard that most retirees run through everything they put into Social Security within 7-8 years. After that it is just welfare.

[Zack Nguyen]

Young and middle-aged adults tend to look kindly upon lavish federal generosity to Grandma because it means she won't be hitting them up for help.

Wow, that's an uncomfortable truth.

[CDHart]

The bottom line on all this is that the federal government was never intended to do most of what it's doing now. The first violation was when we (our grandparents) allowed the income tax -- politicians got used to taking from one and giving to the other in exchange for support. If we had stuck with our original Constitution, we wouldn't be in this mess.

Carolyn

[Destructor]

What really ticks me off is that anytime there's a discussion about Social Security and/or Medicare the geezers always start in about how they paid in to the system for X years, so they're entitled to it. Entitled to draw 6 or 7 times the amount of money that you "paid in?"