Posted on 09/16/2011 7:23:53 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Krauthammer pi$$es me off sometimes but when he’s on he’s DEAD ON!
Someone here educated me last week on life expectancy numbers. They are much higher now because the infant mortality rate is so much lower. If your life expectancy figures for today and a hundred years ago only inlude people who make it to, say, age 18, people really are not living all that much longer.
Heck, the bible says the life of a man is 70 years. Those that don’t die in childhood, that is.
“Of course it’s a Ponzi scheme. So what? It’s also the most vital, humane, and fixable of all social programs. The question for the candidates is: Forget Ponzi — are you going to fix Social Security?”
Excellent question, especially for those who have paid into it for 35 or forty years at gunpoint, not out of greed, which of course, is the point of the article. This is far worse than a Ponzi scheme.
The headline is enough to make you pretty angry. I first thought it meant he was saying so what, like it was no big deal. You can’t read his stuff lightly, can you? The mandatory component of this is what really should make people riot, with ZeroCare on the way. It compounds the Ponzi felony. We weren’t enticed by profits, we were robbed at gunpoint. Just as we will be with ZeroCare.
RE: If your life expectancy figures for today and a hundred years ago only inlude people who make it to, say, age 18, people really are not living all that much longer.
Krauthhammer assumes that people can continue to work till way pass 65 and THEIR COMPANIES WILL CONTINUE TO EMPLOY THEM.
Does he not udnerstand that there is RAMPANT AGEISM IN AMERICA where when a company wants to cut cost, the ones who get layed off first are those in their mid or late 50’s?
Trying looking for another job and competing with people in their 30’s after you get laid off and let’s see if you can do it....
A minority can, but on average, it will be extremely difficult.
Let’s say the age by which one can claim SS is now increased to 70... what if you get laid off at 65 and are trying to find a job? What company or business will even consider hiring you at that age?
In the meantime, you should have been eligible for SS but have to wait 5 more years to get it. Is that what Americans will have to look forward to from now on?
Here's some more info: yes, infant mortality rates are part of the explanation; but the biggest contributor to longevity from the 1930s to the present has been antibiotics. Almost everyone used to die of infections like pneumonia. Now they survive those infections. It is a very direct correlation.
How about war? Or are the numbers relatively low?
“In the meantime, you should have been eligible for SS but have to wait 5 more years to get it. Is that what Americans will have to look forward to from now on?”
I don’t think anyone is suggesting they raise the age tomorrow. They are talking some 15-20 years out, by many tables and another year for shorter terms. That would correct the problem, by offering those under 40 to opt into a VOLUNTARY combination of public/private savings account. The public part would support the ongoing cost, the private (naturally) would yield higher dividends to pay them out in the out years.
Your post made me think. I think a “valid” statistic would be one that answers this question: What is the life expectancy of those that make it to 60?
I’ve noticed that the older you are, the longer the actuarials say you will live. Nobody ever tried to get life insurance and the agent says, “Sorry. the actuarials say you died last week. I would not be surprised if a 100 year old man has a life expectancy to 106.
Come to think of it, comparing actuarial tables from 1940 and 2011 would give us a glimpse of what changes have really taken place.
Here’s one from 2003:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Excerpt_from_CDC_2003_Table_1.pdf
he is spot on, with this commentary. Good suggestions. I agree with means testing and raising the eligibility age from 65 to 68 or 70.
You don’t ‘fix’ a Ponzi scheme. OK so it will just be a slightly better ponzi scheme?
We need a system of private accounts where each person has his own account invested in CD’s and bonds. We have tried to argue for this before. But I would NOT however do the whole stocks thing because 1) we have 401k’s for that and 2) Democrats will not be able to demonize CD’s, bonds and money markets.
Once that ‘risky stock’ argument goes away, how can they argue against a fully funded system that still makes more money than SS and can be passed down to your heirs?
There's no way to fix SS and it isn't humane at all. It is just a thin veil thrown over the confiscation of a large part of America's retirement savings. SS will have to be abolished (probably in several stages) along with the payroll tax and replaced with an honest welfare/income support program for the elderly financed out of the general fund. No government can keep a promise to care for everyone. It's civilizational suicide.
“Here’s some more info: yes, infant mortality rates are part of the explanation; but the biggest contributor to longevity from the 1930s to the present has been antibiotics. Almost everyone used to die of infections like pneumonia. Now they survive those infections. It is a very direct correlation. “
Don’t tell Michele Bachmann. According to her, modern medicine is the spawn of SATAN!!!!
I’m reading a Michner book called Chesapeak. It starts with the life of an indian in the 1600’s and follows the inhabitants from there based, somewhat, on actual records.
We have it so easy now as to be downright laughable. If the only hardship is that they increase the age at which people can get ss, it is but a blip. I admit I’m using a semi-fiction book to illustrate this, but my belief is that we are about to go down so hard that in a few years people will yearn for the world in which we currently live and the addition of higher SS with NO hope of getting any back.
No, I’m not predicting Mad Max. More of a post WWII europe sort of thing, with elevated gamma rays maybe.
SS is a Ponzi scheme insofar as most participants have the impression it’s a “money in -> money invested -> money out” plan, that somehow it’s their money they put in which they’re getting out (with paltry interest, of course).
SS isn’t a Ponzi scheme insofar as the “investment” form is long gone (if it ever existed; I’m still researching that), at it is nothing more than a straight “you pay money in today, someone gets money out tomorrow” redistributive tax, and anyone exerting any attempt to understand the program understands this.
The former amounts to felony fraud, the other amounts to normal taxation.
The difference is mere semantics. Which you choose depends only on whether you’re a member or target of the coming lynch mob.
Either way, we soon won’t have enough money coming in to pay money going out, and that point is a lot sooner than alleged because the so-called “trust fund” bonds in question are paid out of the general fund which is already spent twice over.
The government can also only force people to pay from taxable income. Those that have found alternate methods of income can affect the equation. Greece has this problem. There is a huge underground cash only economy that is never reported. The amount of tax dollars not collected is staggering. When taxes become punitive, people either stop producing or they figure out a way to produce just enough to survive without the government getting a cut.
—No government can keep a promise to care for everyone. It’s civilizational suicide. —
Just ask Greece.
—No government can keep a promise to care for everyone. It’s civilizational suicide. —
Just ask Greece.
Or any of the PIIGS.
Just because people are living longer doesn’t mean they are able to work longer. You can’t pull people out of nursing homes and tell them to get a job just because they have a pulse.
The only federal involvement required in the program would be that deposits in such accounts are tax-free, as are withdrawals after the age of 65.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.