Posted on 01/26/2013 6:40:59 AM PST by tobyhill
As President Obama faces pressure on the left to defend federal entitlement programs from the benefit cuts that the Republicans say are necessary to keep the programs solvent decades down the road, one part of Social Security could fall short of paying out full benefits within a few years -- even while Obama is still president.
Over the long term, Social Security and Medicare have promised tens of trillions of dollars more in benefits than the nation can pay for under current policies. But Social Security's disability trust fund is in even worse shape, and current estimates say by 2016 it won't have enough money to pay full benefits.
"That's three years from now," Jim Capretta of the Ethics and Public Policy Center said. “And given the president's rhetoric and his posture, it's quite clear that he has no intention of doing anything about it."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
“Tens of trillions” in shortfalls? Pfftt...pure bosh. A mere trifle. Just raise the debt ceiling, knock on China’s door again, and ask Ben to rev up QE-XXXVII.
Dear God how I wish the infernal damned govt had not stolen that money from me over 45 years. I’d be in fat city if I’d had that money invested in my own retirement account.
Because, IMHO, “disability” is entirely too broadly defined.
Over the last 4 years there are a lot of people who have come to see SSDI as a career path. This cannot continue.
I have next door (well .. sort'a ... we live in rural Pa.) neighbors that are none married and all illiterate and two young girls now with a 17 yo child of the momma w/the two others, pregnant.
No one works and the father/grandfather (retired with pension and SS) is there to help with whatever anyone needs
First of all,Obama did do something about it,he gave everyone a tax cut,except it was SocialSecurity that was actually robbed of its only fundraising by hundreds of millions
First of all,Obama did do something about it,he gave everyone a tax cut,except it was SocialSecurity that was actually robbed of its only fundraising by hundreds of millions
There is no trust fund. THERE IS NO TRUST FUND! Have no trust in anyone who says there is a trust fund.
Always pays to turn the page on these gub’mnt websites ~ ‘cause the answer is here ~ in the footnotes: http://www.ssa.gov/oact/progdata/taxRates.html
it’s a trick with accounting, but then again, so is money. you’ll get over it eventually.
But, but we had a government promise back in 1964!
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.”
And here is where your money went. Read and weep!
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/ProgData/fundFAQ.html#n4
“The fiscal security of the disability trust fund got rapidly worse as the unemployment rate rose. The number of applications has almost doubled in the last 10 years, from 1.5 million a year in 2001 to more than 2.8 million a year in 2012.”
Of course, we'll still be paying the tax out of our paycheck but it will the program will be gone.
They should be flush with cash when Obamacare kicks in full speed.
A tiny bit sarc.
Don’t worry /sarc wall street has designed the system so it’s “invested” for you.
It’s invested in taxpayers paying taxes in the future.
And it’s invested in the Treasury selling more bonds in the future (that’s the ponzi aspect).
And they made your employer pay as well. You could have had 13%+ of your gross pay added to your net pay all along and would not have costed your employer 1 penny more.
Grabbing taxpayer dollars is a multi-trillion per year industry, however, so SS and MC have to compete with everyone inside the beltway elbowing around the trough.
Repubs and Dems seem much more intent on paying out less SS / MC and paying out more for fancy government software implementation projects, Foreign Aid to further one world government, the welfare state, highway funds to grease the wheels of State parties, etc.
The SS MC funds now own about $2.5 trillion in Treasury bonds, but that’s really just worthless ponzi junk, since redeeming it without rolling it over ponzi style eats into everyone else’s grabbing of current tax and borrowed dollars.
Of course, if you earn to much while on Social Security - you have to pay Federal Income tax on the SS benefits when you receive them, so some of the benefits filter back into the ponzi.
What a “social safety net”. Working taxpayers are held in bondage by the “social safety net”.
Oh yeah. I work in ER and every day I see 20 and 30 year olds on disability for anxiety or depression or PTSD. I can’t tell you how often I hear “ I’m working on getting my disability” or “ I’m waiting for my disability”.
I guarantee you if the money suddenly stopped coming and it was work or starve, the majority of these parasites would suddenly get healthy.
I can’t tell you how many people I know who have been collecting SSI for decades but are perfectly able bodied. A life time of living off other’s hard work is disgusting. If they can shop all day, hold wilderness expeditions and farm, they aren’t disabled so much they need to take food out of my children’s mouths.
even *our* reps continue to play this BS word game...
I guess Im not broke so long as i have a few checks in the book, nevermind the bank folded years ago...
solvent ???
weve been hosed for so long now, its kabuki 24/7...
it’s like the Spaish-American War telephone tax ~ that was disposed of only recently.
Turn those people in at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov/fraudreport/oig/public_fraud_reporting/form.htm
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