Free Republic

Republicans in Congress have never been good at hiding their intentions to gut Social Security. In recent years, GOP luminaries from Senate Majority Leader Mich McConnell of Kentucky down through Sen. Marcio Rubio of Florida and former House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin have talked about the need to slash “entitlements” because, you know, the cost of programs such as Social Security and Medicare is driving the federal deficit, leaving so little room for tax-cut handouts to the wealthy. Now Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) has added her voice to the discussion, with an added fillip. During a town hall appearance...

Beware. The old social security scam is surfacing once again. A call comes in saying they have found a misuse of your social security number and want you to call back. You can guess what happens then. Freepers and others, beware.

With Democrats in control of the House of Representatives, Congressman John Larson's, (D-CT) Social Security 2100 Act may pass the House. There are a lot of whizbang increases in benefits for social security beneficiaries in the bill but don't believe for a minute that is the center of the bill. The bill has been created to "fix" the growing deficit caused by outflows from the social security trust fund versus inflows.

With the next round of Democratic presidential candidate debates upon us, we will surely hear more about government activism to fix racial inequalities. Inequality is real and needs attention. According to the Urban Institute, average white household wealth in 2016 was $171,000 compared with average black household wealth of $17,409. Sen. Cory Booker wants government to make deposits into savings accounts for low-income children to the tune of up to $50,000 each. Sen. Kamala Harris proposes $100 billion in government subsidies for black homeownership. These kinds of proposals may win some black votes, but should they? Will they really make...

Bernie Sanders .. wants to expand Social Security, even as the program will pass an omnious tipping point. Some time next year, as the ranks of retirees swell, the Social Security system in the United States will pass an ominous tipping point and start the slide into insolvency. For the first time in nearly four decades, the government program that provides retirement checks to older Americans will pay out more in benefits in 2020 than it takes in. That will force the program to dip into a rainy day fund that will be depleted in about 15 years. And if...

A new government report has given us a glimpse into our nation’s fiscal future, and the outlook is grim. Absent major reforms, America’s debt will only continue to balloon. The Congressional Budget Office released its updated long-term budget report on Tuesday, which projects the nation’s fiscal situation for the next 30 years. Despite the strong economy, the nation remains in a precarious and unsustainable budget position, just as it was last year. Debt held by the public is set to rise to nearly one and a half times the size of the economy in the coming decades. The report also...

Implementing Occam's Razor: The so-called logic behind keeping and maintaining sanctuary city designations, in defiance of what Trump has been calling for - and his suppport for what Governor Ron Desantis (R) did in signing the bill banning sanctuary cities in the state of Florida - is that sanctuary cities allow law-abiding illegal aliens to report crime(s) committed by non law-abiding illegal aliens with out fear of reprisal. Problem is, illegal aliens (even if they somehow do commit less crimes on average than U.S. citizens do and the jury may be out on that on many crimes) still lead to...

"I don't think 500 billionaires are...why we're in trouble," says the ex-VP... ... adds he would shrink Social Security and Medicare.

Baby Boomers are retiring. Most are now starting to take their pensions and Social Security. The more fortunate are beginning to dip into their IRAs and 401Ks. As we reach this milestone, our views tend to harden. We are growing less tolerant. Some may call it cranky. We don’t buy a lot of the nonsense that is shoved down our throats by so many of the so called experts on television. We frequently find ourselves yelling back at them. We are even less tolerant of all the politically correct BS. As our circulation slows, we look forward to spending more time in...

Baby Boomers are retiring. Most are now starting to take their pensions and Social Security. The more fortunate are beginning to dip into their IRAs and 401Ks. As we reach this milestone, our views tend to harden. We are growing less tolerant. Some may call it cranky. We don’t buy a lot of the nonsense that is shoved down our throats by so many of the so called experts on television. We frequently find ourselves yelling back at them. We are even less tolerant of all the politically correct BS. As our circulation slows, we look forward to spending more...

I think the time is coming for an idea that is so old that it is new again: cutting the Federal government in half. The idea is: cancel all Federal welfare-type programs, including all means-tested welfare programs (apparently there are over 150 of them), all healthcare-related programs including Medicare and Medicaid, all education-related, arts-related and housing-related programs, and anything else of this sort -- in short, most everything except for the military, national parks, and maybe some public works. Social Security could eventually be reformed to a system of private retirement accounts, known as a "provident fund" system and in...

On April 22, the trustees for Social Security issued their annual reports, and the situation for the huge transfer program is unsustainable, the same as it’s been for years. The government tells us yet again that the program is running out of money. The danger here is that Americans have been hearing these dire predictions for so long now that they’ll no longer take them seriously. April 23 on Fox News’ Special Report, Bret Baier reported on the trustees’ reports and discussed them with his panel. Panelist Charles Hurt opined that the financial difficulties of the big transfer programs...

As news circulated Tuesday that President Donald Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are eyeing a $2 trillion infrastructure spending package, the House Republican Study Committee introduced a budget proposal that recognizes that America’s $22 trillion—and rapidly growing—national debt is unsustainable, and that Congress must change course. “Preserving American Freedom,” the Republican Study Committee’s comprehensive fiscal 2020 budget proposal, would rein in Washington’s spending addiction by prioritizing core constitutional functions. By reducing inappropriate and wasteful spending and right-sizing the federal government, the committee’s proposal would balance the budget in six years and start...

But a new wrinkle in this venerable scam was recently reported. In this one, recipients of a call are told that their Social Security number has been suspended due not to their own actions but to more general "suspicious activity." Instead of being given another number to call, the victims are told to simply press 1, and they'll be connected with a Social Security agent. Instead, they are connected to a fraudulent agent, who may ask them to verify their Social Security number. Once they verify it, the fraudster has it. Fines and bank account numbers are part of this...

Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Mitt Romney of Utah, with House co-sponsor Ann Wagner of Missouri, unveiled a paid family leave bill on Wednesday, which would require interested new parents to make changes to their Social Security strategy. Under the legislation, parents can pull forward up to three months of those retirement benefits to use for leave following the birth, or adoption, of a child.

House Democrats are considering pushing a massive tax Opens a New Window. hike on American workers, regardless of their income level, as part of a bill to expand Social Security. There’s no question that Social Security Opens a New Window. faces significant funding issues, but there are better ways to reform the program than increasing payroll taxes Opens a New Window. on every employer and worker. According to the Social Security and Medicare Trustees, Social Security is facing a $13.2 trillion cash shortfall between 2034 and 2092. Medicare is in even worse financial shape facing a $37.7 trillion funding shortfall...

Democratic presidential candidate Kirstin Gillibrand wants to expand Social Security to people living in the United States illegally. "First, we need comprehensive immigration reform," the 2020 hopeful and New York senator said during a campaign stop in Davenport, Iowa. "If you are in this country now you must have the right to pay into Social Security, to pay your taxes, to pay into the local school system and to have a pathway to citizenship. That must happen." Gillibrand's comments are striking given her past as an immigration hawk. In 2009, the New York senator voted to increase funding for ICE...

Congress, the branch of government that controls the purse strings and that is therefore responsible for the national debt, passed yet another milestone the other day when the debt blew past $22 Trillion. That’s a 14-digit liability that the American taxpayer is on the hook for. What a deal -- members of Congress get to buy your vote with your kids’ money. In November of 2012 on The Ed Show (mercifully cancelled in 2015), Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said: “We are not gonna cut Social Security, which, by the way, as Harry Reid just reminded us, has nothing to...

For each active worker, four pensioners. For 169 governmental bodies, the numbers are lopsided. In some cases hundreds — and in Chicago’s case, thousands — more retirees are drawing from a fund than active workers are paying into it. Even in a small suburban district such as the Arlington Heights Park District, 432 retirees are pulling from that district’s pension fund with only 103 active employees paying into it. In the city of Chicago, according to the treasurer’s numbers, the gap is smaller in percentage terms, but in terms of the gap, more dramatic. Including Chicago Board of Education administrative...

Amid all the hoopla about Democrats wanting to raise taxes on the rich, they are quietly working on a bill that would increase taxes on every working family in America. Why? To fund expanded benefits for baby boomers hitting retirement. The Social Security 2100 Act would hike the combined payroll taxes paid by workers and their employers from 12.4% today to 14.8% by 2043. The bill would also apply the payroll tax on incomes over $400,000. According to the Social Security Administration, in the first 12 years alone, this would amount to a $1.5 trillion tax hike. Once the tax...