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Why ‘entitlement’ programs aren’t really entitlements
daily caller ^ | 1-21-13 | jim huffman

Posted on 01/21/2013 6:57:44 PM PST by TurboZamboni

Almost everyone seems to agree that some combination of Social Security reform, Medicare reform and Medicaid reform is essential to any long-term fix of the federal government’s fiscal woes. But few in Washington are prepared to face the political challenges of such reform. Perhaps it would help if we stopped calling these federally financed benefits “entitlements.”

In any legal sense of the term, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are not entitlements. Unlike public employee pensions, which are contractual obligations now threatening to bankrupt state and local governments, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits can be modified, or even eliminated, by a majority vote of both houses of Congress along with the president’s signature. They are benefits, not entitlements.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government
KEYWORDS: cheeze; medicaid; medicare; soshsecurity
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To: ColdSteelTalon

But it’s not your money. Your money is gone.


41 posted on 01/22/2013 3:07:14 AM PST by Tublecane
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To: matthew fuller

The previous poster did not say anyone willing paid. The point was that those who pretend they “paid into” a “system” and deserve eventual benefits by right willingly put their heads in the sand. Which they’d have to, because it is so obviously a sham.


42 posted on 01/22/2013 3:11:29 AM PST by Tublecane
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To: USNBandit

In “Fleming vs. Nestor” the Supreme Court ruled:

To engraft upon the Social Security system a concept of ‘accrued property rights’ would deprive it of the flexibility and boldness in adjustment to ever changing conditions which it demands.” The Court went on to say, “It is apparent that the non-contractual interest of an employee covered by the [Social Security] Act cannot be soundly analogized to that of the holder of an annuity, whose right to benefits is bottomed on his contractual premium payments.”


In Helvering vs. Davis the Supreme Court ruled:

“The proceeds of both the employee and employer taxes are to be paid into the Treasury like any other internal revenue generally, and are not earmarked in any way.”


Social Security is not an insurance program at all. It is simply a payroll tax on one side and a welfare program on the other. Your Social Security benefits are always subject to the whim of 535 politicians in Washington.


43 posted on 01/22/2013 6:41:36 AM PST by CharlesMartelsGhost
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To: TurboZamboni

Only options cut benefits or spending.


44 posted on 01/22/2013 7:44:32 AM PST by Vaduz
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To: Tublecane

Bravo.

And we see this on FR all the time. In particular with the older FR crowd who has no problem with generational theft


45 posted on 01/22/2013 7:53:07 AM PST by MadIsh32 (In order to be pro-market, sometimes you must be anti-big business)
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To: Tublecane
It’s because of pellet like you that we have this giant “entitlement” problem. Because even though you’ve perked behind the curtain, know it’s a ponzi scheme, and presumably are morally opposed to pure wealth redistribution, you STILL claim your goodies as if by right. Gimme, gimme, gimme.

Frankly, F**k You! I've payed maximum (over the cap) social security for the last 35 years and NEVER taken a penny of any kind of benefits from the government. At the rate it is decaying, I'll never get a penny back. I've been a conservative all my life and never voted for the leftist tax and spenders. Again...STFU. You don't know what you're talking about.

46 posted on 01/22/2013 9:06:01 AM PST by Myrddin
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To: Tublecane

Thank you. I thought something was lost in translation somehow...

People get all caught up in the “I paid into”....mine, mine, MINE when it’s gone, gone and GONE.


47 posted on 01/22/2013 9:32:41 AM PST by i_robot73
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To: Myrddin

Actually, they seem to be more on point than you, no offense.

You have no ‘paid’ anything, again, you were TAXED. You are owed $0/nothing/nada/zip ‘when the time comes’. When you die, you are owed...again, $0. There is no passing it to heirs/estate. Why? ‘Cuz it’s NOT ‘yours’.

I still have a good 20 yrs. of work-life, but it wasn’t as if I started at 14 NOT knowing what it was, or what to expect.


48 posted on 01/22/2013 9:39:47 AM PST by i_robot73
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To: Lancey Howard

It should be made voluntary yesterday. Theft is theft.


49 posted on 01/22/2013 11:01:57 AM PST by JCBreckenridge (Texas is a state of mind - Steinbeck)
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To: Tublecane

Makes no difference I paid into it and it is promised. I guess they will just print more money...


50 posted on 01/22/2013 4:03:44 PM PST by ColdSteelTalon (Light is fading to shadow, and casting its shroud over all we have known...)
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To: TurboZamboni

That’s good because I continually see seniors moaning that their SS is not an entitlement because they paid into it for years. (and, yes, I am a senior myself)


51 posted on 01/22/2013 4:18:01 PM PST by EDINVA
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To: Myrddin

I know what I’m talking about because you told me and I can read. Maybe you should pause and consider why it is you’ve reacted so strongly to my posts. Possibly it’s your conservative conscience feeling guilty over your socialistic words.


52 posted on 01/23/2013 6:53:54 AM PST by Tublecane
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To: ColdSteelTalon

“Makes no difference”

Why did you bring it up, then? To bolster your claim on other people’s money. But their money is not yours, and that makes a difference with respect to your phony claim.

“I paid into it”

Into what? There is no “it.” Like a previous poster said, SS is simply a tax on one end and welfare on the other. You paid your SS taxes into the same system as every other federal tax.

“it is promised”

Finally, yes, you make sense. They did promise, and that’s what politicians do: they attempt to buy votes. They also lie, and if you didn’t know that I have no idea what you’re doing on FR. Trusting them does not entitle you to bennies; it makes you a sucker.


53 posted on 01/23/2013 7:04:18 AM PST by Tublecane
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To: Tublecane

You are a troll looking for a fight. If I pay into a system. I should get something for what I paid into. To not do so is fraud perpetrated by the government. and they do not have the right to reduce benefits. If they do they are thieves. How they managed the money is not relevant. It is owed to me. If you can’t see that, I don’t know how I can help you understand.


54 posted on 01/23/2013 8:17:25 AM PST by ColdSteelTalon (Light is fading to shadow, and casting its shroud over all we have known...)
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To: ColdSteelTalon

“If I pay into a system”

I’ll stop you right there. You didn’t pay into a system, unless the system of which you speak is the US treasury.

“To not do so is fraud perpetrated by the government.”

If so we couldn’t have a government, for all politicians would be in jail. There is a difference between one kind of political lie and another, admittedly. But the SS lie was of such a nature that you failing to see through it is dereliction if duty on your part moreso than fraud on theirs.

Also, if it began as fraud that didn’t last long. The truth has been out there, officially, and your federal government told you long ago that it’s not insurance, there’s no guarantee, and future monies are not yours by right.

“If they do they are thieves”

They are thieves, yes. What are you, by the way, who knowingly lays claim to other people’s money on the pretext of having it being owed to you for supposedly having paid into a nonexistent system, which you know to be a mere pretext? Are you not a thief, too? Why not, because the government tricked you? But you’ve been told, and now you know. Still you demand.


55 posted on 01/23/2013 8:48:53 AM PST by Tublecane
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To: Tublecane
I know what I’m talking about because you told me and I can read.

Your problem is referring to people as "pellet like you". I have no guilt about having been taxed up the the maximum limits all of my career. I do have righteous indignation about having been defrauded of money that I could have set aside for my own retirement instead of supporting others in their idleness. I resent being the mule pulling the cart of socialism. I resent being told that my money has been stolen and I'm supposed to like it and sit quietly while being abused by the government. If you think that is a good attitude, then go polish your shackles.

56 posted on 01/23/2013 9:01:04 AM PST by Myrddin
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To: Tublecane

Buzz off. I am not wasting my time with you anymore.


57 posted on 01/23/2013 9:40:45 AM PST by ColdSteelTalon (Light is fading to shadow, and casting its shroud over all we have known...)
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