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Today’s CBO report has some bad news about the deficit. But CBO has some really, really bad news about Social Security: It’s officially broke. The CBO’s revenue/expenditure estimates now place the program in permanent deficit. There had been some hope that payroll taxes would recover sufficiently post-recession to put the program back into the black (the theoretical black) for at least a few more years, putting off the day of reckoning for an election cycle or more. No more: The new CBO estimates put Social Security in the red for as far as the eye can see. But there’s a...

1. Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthly life and especially by his death and resurrection, is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity. Love — caritas — is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace... 2. Charity is at the heart of the Church's social doctrine. Every responsibility and every commitment spelt out by that doctrine is derived from charity which, according to the teaching of Jesus, is the synthesis of the entire...

Peter Cardinal Turkson, President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, has a message for Catholics in America, particularly those involved in social justice ministry, that could put a damper on the political machinations of the Shadow Party. The message? “Social justice” is about “relationships,” not “socialism.” This clarification may very well be the catalyst to set the Catholic Church in America back on course with authentic Catholic teaching on hot-button issues involving massive government entitlement programs and other forms of overreach. If nothing else, it will almost certainly jump-start the “social justice” debate among Catholics. Cardinal Turkson,...

A Polish research institute has developed a board game to teach young people about life under Communism. In the game, which is inspired by Monopoly, players must wait in endless lines at stores for scarce goods. For added realism, they have to put up with people cutting in line and products running out -- unless they have a "colleague in the government" card. --snip-- The goal of the game, which will officially be launched on Feb. 5, is to show how hard and frustrating it was for an average person to simply do their shopping under the Communist regime in...

the government actually claims it can hold hostage people's Social Security payments in order to FORCE those people to accept Medicare enrollment. The Department of Health and Human Services insists an individual cannot forfeit Medicare eligibility and continue to collect Social Security benefits even after paying into the latter system over an entire career.

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America is signaling its intention to dominate the national sex education agenda. Specifically, Planned Parenthood's Web site announced the group is preparing to launch a nationwide “social change initiative” to end the “stigma and shame about sex” in American culture. The project aims to teach parents and caregivers how to educate children about sex -- from birth. And it recommends telling teenagers about masturbation, oral sex and “where to go for help to prepare to be sexually active.”

There's no need to worry, Social Security is OKBy Charles O. Kroncke and William Holahan Ventura County Star Posted January 1, 2011 at 1:59 p.m. Social Security is an expensive program. But it is not about to explode, not now nor when the bonds in the Trust Fund run out. Nor is it broke, a Ponzi scheme or any of the other pejoratives often used to describe it. Costs are not rising at a frightening pace that will lead to its demise in a few decades. It should not be lumped in with Medicare, where costs are rising out of...

Pensions: Nearly 30 years ago, on the very day Ronald Reagan was sworn in as U.S. president, Chile became the first nation to privatize its social security system. Three decades hence, it has surpassed all expectations. Decades ago, Chile's then-military dictatorship shuddered at a proposal from then-Labor Minister Jose Pinera to privatize Chile's liability-laden pension system. The military men argued that the public was too ignorant to manage its own affairs and only government's firm hand could be trusted to provide. Pinera explained that the pension liabilities the government then couldn't pay were not only perfectly payable, but could be...

'Obama attacking Social Security'Fri Dec 17, 2010 6:55PM US President Barack Obama's controversial tax cut deal with the Republicans "is an attack on Social Security," an online columnist says. “This is a total sell-out by Barack Obama… That's a huge problem. It will lower the pay-roll tax. The tax [that is needed] to fund Social Security. It is an attack on Social Security …,” online columnist Allen Roland told Press TV on Friday. Roland continued, “It will cut one third of Social Security funding this year alone. That's the only safety net that we have. Can you believe that the...

Social Security advocates fear payroll tax cutBy Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press Sun Dec 12, 8:18 am ET WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's plan to cut payroll taxes for a year would provide big savings for many workers, but makes Social Security advocates nervous that it could jeopardize the retirement program's finances. The plan is part of a package of tax cuts and extended unemployment benefits that Obama negotiated with Senate Republican leaders. It would cut workers' share of Social Security taxes by nearly one-third for 2011. Workers making $50,000 in wages would get a $1,000 tax cut; those making $100,000...

Retirees will no longer be able to get an interest-free loan from the Social Security trust fund, the Social Security Administration announced today. Effective on December 8, retirees will not be able to pay back benefits already received in exchange for higher Social Security payments going forward. Here's a look at how the new Social Security rules could impact your checks.

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The coming federal budget debacle is one shrouded by lies wrapped in euphemisms, obfuscated by spin. Just as an example of the less than truthful statements coming from the Federal Government in it’s denial of the impending disaster to befall the nation I need only to point to the excerpt from the Trustee’s Report on Social Security. The outlook for Medicare has improved substantially because of program changes made in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (the “Affordable Care Act” or ACA). Despite lower near-term revenues resulting...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Judges who hear Social Security disability cases are facing a growing number of violent threats from claimants angry over being denied benefits or frustrated at lengthy delays in processing claims. There were at least 80 threats to kill or harm administrative law judges or staff over the past year - an 18 percent increase over the previous reporting period, according to data collected by the agency. The data was released to the Association of Administrative Law Judges and made available to The Associated Press. One claimant in Albuquerque, N.M., called his congressman's office to say he was...

I understand where Senator Jim DeMint is coming from here, but honestly, does he really believe I have to believe homosexuality or cohabitation is wrong in order to see the errors of out of control spending at the Federal level? Listen and learn my little small “l” libertarians. Senator Jim DeMint, who is happily positioning himself as a leader of the Tea Party movement in Congress, made the statements last night on Special Report. The portion of the video I have clipped includes DeMint’s involvement in the Tea Party movement and ends with the statement that gives us the title...

The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration. It's time to start cashing them in. For more than two decades, Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits — billions more each year. Not anymore. This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes — nearly $29...

The First 10 City Pensions That Will Run Out Of MoneyGus Lubin | Oct. 12, 2010, 10:52 AM The municipal pension crisis is like the social security crisis but worse: Unlike the federal government, cities cannot legally go into debt. This imminent disaster is described in a new paper out by Robert Novy-Marx and Joshua Rauh [PDF]. Novy-Marx and Rauh say most cities are burdened with unfunded liabilities, which are ignored by common accounting methods (see chart). Unfunded liabilities equal around $15,000 per household nationally, and up to $41,000 per household in some cities. These cities are running out of...

When the Tea Party first started out, I was a enthusiastic supporter.. The Tea Party perfectly represented what my views are.. I'm a 100% fiscal conservative and I believe in small government on ALL issues. In the beginning, the Tea Party seemed to be such movement that would support candidates based on FISCAL issues. Initially, that was the case and people like Scott Brown have been elected. However, since then, it seems like the Tea Party Express and other Tea Party organizations have been hijacked by the social conservative wing of the GOP (i.e. Sarah Palin). Social issues were introduced...

"Personal-izing" Social SecurityPrivate accounts can work, but they're not for everyone. Girard Miller | September 15, 2010 This is the fourth in a six-month series on reforming Social Security and Medicare. As the midterm elections approach, the national parties are dancing around Social Security reform. A common theme among Republicans, conservatives and libertarians is the idea of allowing Americans an option to invest "their" money themselves. Many Democrats, claiming it will undermine the entire system, view it as a wedge issue favoring their candidates. The president's bipartisan commission on fiscal responsibility may consider this idea as part of a comprehensive,...

Disability numbers on the rise by Jared Hunt Daily Mail Capitol Reporter Advertiser CHARLESTON, W.Va.--The percentage of West Virginians receiving Social Security Disability benefits ranks highest in the nation, according to data from the Social Security Administration. In an August report, the agency said 91,273 people - 5.02 percent of the state's population - are considered disabled workers. Following West Virginia in the rankings were Arkansas, at 4.44 percent; Kentucky, 4.41 percent; Alabama, 4.34 percent; and Mississippi, 4.11 percent. Another 14,835 West Virginians were listed as dependent spouses or children of those on disability, bringing total beneficiaries to 106,108. The...