Posted on 03/24/2010 7:49:17 PM PDT by Nachum
The bursting of the real estate bubble and the ensuing recession have hurt jobs, home prices and now Social Security.
This year, the system will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes, an important threshold it was not expected to cross until at least 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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Unexpected I am sure.
Due to Congressional indolence they forgot to put the FICA taxes into the fund and instead spent it on frivolity.
No, when the tax money might well be needed elsewhere, the payments must still be made.
SS was going broke anyways. Everyone knew it would happen, and that’s before the housing market crashed.
Or kill off some old geezers.
I should be receiving Social Security this time next year. I have a sneaking feeling that the payments are not going to near what I was expecting(or what they were predicting).
I will be eligable in 3 years and by then, who knows.
we’re due in about 3 years.....I’ve been trying to warn my husband not to expect it...
The is not the fault of Social Security. The money was paid in by workers. Blame politicians who decided, starting with LBJ, to use the ‘surplus’ funds in SS to fund other government largess. Had the money been left there, and invested at the going rates, we would not be at this precipice.
I wonder just how much money has been siphoned off by greedy pols over the years. I suspect it would stagger the mind!
Why don’t they give each Soshcurity recipient a small printing press, to make his own money?
You know: give a man a fish vs. teach a man to fish!
They didn’t see this coming 4 days ago, before the devil bill passed?
They knew. They don’t care.
The Devil Bill is one of their priorities.
Immigration reform is coming up.
Just like all the revenue from the taxes from the healthcare bill will not be there to pay the benefits kicking in around 2014.
But before that happens, we need to repeal it.
Fire up the death panels.
All of it.
All pyramid schemes fail. No surprise. I was expecting it to run out of money far earlier than they ever said it would. I am surprised they would admit it.
The party is almost over. Let the last boomer with a check turn out the lights on their grandchildren.
Well..gee...when you KILL business you get LESS in revenues...you idiots.....oh, wait, that’s what you planned!
***This year, the system will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes, an important threshold it was not expected to cross until at least 2016,****
Back in 1964, a booklet published by the SSA said the system would NEVER go broke!
http://www.ssa.gov/history/ssa/usa1964-2.html
“Self-Supporting
The program is designed so that contributions plus interest on the investments of the social security trust funds will be sufficient to meet all of the costs of benefits and administration, now and into the indefinite future—without any subsidy from the general funds of the Government. Both the Congress and the Executive Branch, regardless of political party in power, have scrupulously provided in advance for full financing of all liberalizations in the program.”
At least we won’t have to worry about Obama care going broke! Or Medicare, or the Post office ..;-D
It’s okay: just raise taxes and print more money. :)
Problem fixed. :)
Teach a man how to fish and he'll spend the rest of his life in a boat, drinking beer.
Eliminate the 401K/IRA limits. Allow people to contribute as much as they want into 401K/IRA/Roth. The ones that save money, will have money for their retirement. The ones that did not, well, we know what is supposed to happen to the 'grasshopper'.
This is not a problem. We will just print more.
Yes, it is the fault of SS. A Ponzi scheme has a life span. On the average, people collect more in benefits than they ever paid in. There are fewer and fewer workers paying the benefits for everyone collecting. I think it's around 2.3 workers per beneficiary right now. When boomers start retiring, it will be even less.
Yes, Congress borrowed from the trust fund, but they didn't raid it. Whatever they took out will be returned with interest. They borrowed from it to disguise the fact that they were running up the debt. That's the sham.
It's a Ponzi scheme. Younger people are screwed - they won't see a dime of what they're paying in, even after paying about 14% of their income into the fund for all their working years (and don't tell me it's only 7% because the employer pays the other 7%-the worker pays it ALL because what the employee pays is salary the worker doesn't get, but is part of the cost of the employment).
They just did. One half trillion dollars out of Medicare to fund Po'fokeCare!
Constant rumors that the FedGOv is planning to confiscate 401k accounts and convert them to social security payments. Better get your dough out before the retroactive hammer falls...
I have Leukemia and I'm only 56. Diagnosed four years ago and was told I had 10 to 15 years. Hopefully in my second remission.
So much for putting in less money than I'll get out of it.
Democrat Politicians hope someone like me will die early so their wonderful Ponzi Scheme will hold on just a little longer.
I wouldn't trust a Democrat to pickup my Dogs poop.
>>>>Or kill off some old geezers<<<<<<
http://crabbyoldfart.wordpress.com/
go stand in the corner ... ;o)
Nam Vet
From one Nam vet to another: We never expected this after so many years back in “The World”, did we?
Yup, Cloward-Piven until we are destroyed!
" Leftists such as Barack Obama euphemistically refer to this collapse as a "fundamental transformation," on the theory that society can only be improved by destroying the deeply flawed existing order and replacing it with what they view as a better alternative, i.e., socialism."
Well, we're not going to be destroyed! Revolution II is on the Way!
This year, the system will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes, an important threshold it was not expected to cross until at least 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
—
Guess they missed that one.
Again.
Time to start doing private retirement accounts.
Eliminate the 401K/IRA limits. Allow people to contribute as much as they want into 401K/IRA/Roth. The ones that save money, will have money for their retirement. The ones that did not, well, we know what is supposed to happen to the ‘grasshopper’.
Good idea.
Right up to the moment when Obama takes it all.
More like time to stop the program for younger workers. I would GLADLY sacrifice every dollar I've paid in to it, if they would only agree to take no more....
It’s a Ponzi scheme. Younger people are screwed - they won’t see a dime of what they’re paying in, even after paying about 14% of their income into the fund for all their working years (and don’t tell me it’s only 7% because the employer pays the other 7%-the worker pays it ALL because what the employee pays is salary the worker doesn’t get, but is part of the cost of the employment).
It’s 14% for all the self-employed
Can u imagine -—
39% tax + 14% SS tax +
State
house
car, highway, registration , license, passport, travel, bridge, tollway,
gasoline
electricity /water/ natural gas for the stove
FICA
State
Sales tax when you buy a book or dinner
$1 heath tax
no salt tax
WHAT IS THE TOTAL
HOW MUCH CAN THEY TAKE FROM US?
And I didn’t get a single F-22 to use.
The article has some incredible quotes that reflect the fundamental fraud underlying Social Security. Consider this whopper by Greenspan:
“Even if the trust fund level goes down, there’s no action required, until the level of the trust fund gets to zero,” he said. “At that point, you have to cut benefits, because benefits have to equal receipts.”
This incredible statement asserts that the trust fund has assets. The trust fund is a liability, not an asset. If this assertion is true, then any individual could create an asset by borrowing from himself. Another part of the article indicates that the trust fund is merely an accounting device. How can an accounting device be an asset? The trust fund receives interest payments from the general budget. How does the general fund generate funds to pay the interest to the trust fund?
The trust fund argument is essentially the idea that the same dollar can be spent twice. Excess payroll taxes have been spent on other programs. The trust fund argument indicates that the excess payroll taxes were both spent and saved.
The fact that Social Security now pays more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes is ominous. This event was not projected to occur until 2017. Social Security is now a growing factor in the deficit. Government borrowing must occur to cover the payroll tax deficit. Since it appears that government bonds cannot be sold in such large numbers, the printing press is the only answer. The value of the dollar is set for a dramatic fall as the money supply increases substantially.
Its a shame we didnt have Bernie Maddof running it. We probably would have gotten another 50 years out of it.
I agree with you, but I’ve been dicked over for my entire working life to support seniors with their SS. I want my money BACK, plus interest, and then they can let me invest as I please.Oh, I’m sorry, some government union thug will throw a tantrum when they don’t get their pension AND social security check each month.
Gimme 3 steps, give me 3 steps twrd the door......
Why don’t they give each Soshcurity recipient a small printing press, to make his own money?
You know: give a man a fish vs. teach a man to fish!
I am submitting your nomination for Post of the Day.
Let’s see 6 months a year on the west coast of Panama, new Beammer, new boat and that Benelli I’ve been thinking about.
re: Whatever they took out will be returned with interest
I think that’s the problem. There’s no money with which to pay back what was ‘borrowed’. In fact, the did raid it, when they took out billions and billions of dollars every year for years and years.
True, there comes a time when their aren’t enough workers paying in to pay all the retired workers are taking out. When they talk about the system being in the red that’s the point the mean. They conveniently ignore that the money they are having to put in from the general fund is money that’s owed to workers because it was ‘borrowed’ from them for 40 plus years.
Over the years they have come to see the system as a pay as you go system. It was never intended to be that way. The money being paid in during the times when there were 10 or more workers for every recipient was supposed to be left there, to build up for the day when the balance shifted. That’s the problem. That money’s not there, and they are so far in debt from years of profligate spending they can’t pay it back. So they distract us by acting like they are broke because there aren’t enough workers contributing now. BS, they are broke because they used the money all those years for something other than saving it for day when it would needed.
This is the whole ‘lock box’ thing. Americans who were paying in for year after year assumed the money was going into a ‘trust fund’ to be there for the day when they stopped putting in and started taking out. Now they find out their never was a ‘trust fund’. The money was being spent every penny of it, just as fast it came in.
In reality there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between them!
Actually there is a difference between them.
People willing gave monies to Madoff.
Congress critters took money from citizens thru force of law, Taxes and then squandered.
I have more respect for Madoff than I ever will for congress critters.
Actually I have more respect for armed robbers,they are at least honest in their attempts to steal your possesions.
Pols have to lie and hide behind the law knowing that if they get caught,the most that will happen is they might lose their next election.
The thief with the gun might lose his life if he attempts against someone more willing to fight back.
You are correct. Dem LBJ pushed through the legislation that removed the SS contributions from the “lock box” and put the funds into the General Funds account, where Congress could then spend those funds on other things.
I’ve been drawing SS since age 62. Was laid off at age 59, but still carried as Leave of Absence Without Pay so it would allow me to collect my pension at age 60, after over 35 years at the company (so I wouldn’t sue for ageism). Had to go 9 months with no income. Just figured I would get more of my money back by starting at age 62, rather than waiting until age 67 to get a little more per month. ....I’ll not live long enough to get back what I paid into FICA over my many years of contributions, but the monthly checks do help.
re: starting at age 62
I started mine early too. I figured out how I would lose over the three years if I waited and it wasn’t enough to worry about.
I am not a fan of SS, at all. The purpose of my original post was to point out that had the system been run like it was designed to run we would not be in the trouble we are now.
Not only did they steal our money, they began using SS to handle all sorts of disability things that had nothing to do with retirement.
In today’s entitlement society many people forget it was never intended to be a worker’s sole source of retirement income. It was to be a safety net. It started out a 1 percent contribution on the first small portion of a worker’s pay. But like anything government does it took on a life of its own. And it grew and grew and spread its reach into more and more of our lives. Now we have the results common to EVERY government program. It’s to the point now that every worker covered is making a 15% contribution to their retirement fund. Only to have it stolen and then made to feel guilty, as though it was something they’ve done that got the program into trouble!
Words cannot describe the disdain I have for anything government.
They want to inject the 401K because of all us greedy savers.
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