Exactly, the crisis hasn't hit...yet. We have 4 decades to address it. Why rush? Did you know that income over $90k/year is not deducted for SS? Why not just raise that level to $125k/yr? That would probably add years. Oh yea, I forgot, we don't want to tax rich people. They have too many lobbiest working for them.
the rich don't even need lobbiests with GWB running the show; krosfyah is currently beating the head of the nail senseless
$125,000 a year for a family of four, at least in Austin, is not rich. It is "upper middle class," but rich, it ain't. I would raise the SS income limit for deductions far more than you are thinking. Why doesn't a family making $200k, $500k, over a million $$ not contribute? What earthly explanation can justify giving those who have very high incomes a pass on SS contributions? Want to help keep SS solvent? Do away with the limit on SS contributions altogether. Of course, I'm a Democrat, who is willing to pay taxes to insure that not only SS remains solvent, but that those in need, who aren't as well off as many of us are, get help they must have to have healthy children, or for the elderly to have a dignified life in their last years. Not only the elderly, and the single moms with children trying to scrap by without health insurance, for themselves, and their kids... but also to pay for a host of other needed programs getting the shaft, here in Texas. And at the same time, the current state government is turning away hundreds of millions of dollars in matching Federal grants, our tax money, out of brute stupidity. Things like the highway system and roads, education, teachers salaries and benefits, the salaries and benefits of those state employees who haven't been forced out of jobs that provide vital services to us all. The retirement benefits for teachers and state employees that are being cut, which is one of the only things keeping many of them working for wages far below what they could get in the private sector. Our current Republican state government is bent on turning the responsibilities of the state over to private contractors, which has often proven to have been nothing but a reward for political contributors... most of whom have done a terrible job, and many of whom are turning out to use the contracts to "feather their nest." Charter schools, which were supposed to be a panacea, according to Mr. Perry, have been anything but. Yet he keeps pushing them, even as article after article comes out that many of them are going bankrupt, while their directers drive the "welfare Cadillacs" that the poor are so often accused of getting, absurd as that accusation is. And the cost of funding public schools keeps being pushed down, in ever great percentages, to the local level, which raises our taxes... the taxes that the current state government keeps crowing about cutting, or not raising. Golly, sounds like the Bush Administration on the national level. Keep D&D Civil!!
Did you know that 90K SS tax limit is NOT created by Bush? While you at it, why not just remove the SS tax limit. (The feeling of entitlement is truely amazing among some people, yeah let's all just sit around waiting for hand outs from the gov. Oh wait, maybe they will just raise the SS tax and Bill Gates can cover the SS for all of us.)
Give me a break!!! You can't possibely raise the limit to $500k because that clearly reaches too deeply into rich people's pockets. Lets keep the burden on middle and lower class. We need the rich people richer so they can continue to trickle down their minimun wage jobs to us undeserving free-loaders.
Why doesn't a family making $200k, $500k, over a million $$ not contribute? What earthly explanation can justify giving those who have very high incomes a pass on SS contributions? FICA is capped at $90K since the SS benefit itself is capped.
There is a limit on SS tax is because SS is technically not a true tax. You pay the SS each month for a promise that you will get some of the money back for your retirement. Do away the limit on SS is the SAME as roll it into the income tax, and just let gov. take care of everyone's retirement. (i.e. socialist)
Yea, exactly. I'm entitled to what is mine. I've been paying into SS with the express promise that I will get it back when I retire. Nobody is asking for a handout. Do you understand what SS is? I guess you think it is acceptable to pay into SS and not get it back?
So in order for you to get back what "you have coming," your proposal is for others to pay in more than they will ever get back-- since there is a cap on SS. Have I got that right? Isn't that exactlyl what entitlement is?
There should be zero disagreement that a portion of SS is an entitlement program, a welfare program for senior citizens.
According to E.J. Dione the social security fund would be solvent to pay 100% of all promised benefits for 75 years if Bush had just not given tax breaks to those making $350,000 in his two tax cuts. I know all of the relatively recent grads of UT, Rice and wherever think that they will be soon making that, so who cares? . Oh, well.
I think there is zero disgreement. The point I am striving to make is that he wants people to have to make contributions over and above what can/will be returned to them via SS benefits.... so that he can be assured of getting his. Now that's entitlement! Isn't it?
I am not an economist here. I'm simply discussing the many ways why W's SS plan is a bad deal for Americans and presenting some ideas that most people haven't even thought about since W releases few details about his plans. I am saying we have 40 years to come up with a solution, lets spend some time without using rhetoric to tweak our current system to fix it. Lets start by not giving meaningless refunds to the rich, token refunds to the rest of us and NOT instigating wars!!! If we did those things, we probably would have the flexibility to directly confront SS without ripping it apart. But to specifically address your question (which is shortsighted of the overall topic we're discussing here), the more money going in means more flexibility on how/when to dispurse that. Nevertheless, if somebody else puts in more money, they are entitled to get it back...just as I am entitled to get my money back.
Maybe. Ripping SS apart is not such a bad thing, if we replace it with something more sensible like a truly funded SS trust fund with virtual accounts and professional money managers. The welfare element would then need to be separated from the pension element. The welfare element would need to transfered back to nondiscretionary spending. Also to make this work, the unfunded SS pay-as-go monies for the next 40 years or so would have to come from nondiscretionary spending as we transfer over. No private acccounts. No leverage stock fund bought on margins for TJ. No good wood for the country-club Republicans.
I have an idea on how to fix SS. Completely eliminate it. All monies already put into the system can be repayed out of the general funds that the government acquires. Anyone that has not worked yet will never receive SS. Then everyone can just save for their own retirement and we get a tax cut targeted at everyone making under 90K per year. Having eliminated our national pyramid scheme, everyone can just be responsible for their own retirement.
Good plan! I can see it now. When YOU get turned away from the emergency room because it is full of elderly people that cannot afford housing or medical expenses, I'm sure you'll be the first one b****ing about all the eldery freeloaders. This breed of NeoCons kill me. Such an idealistic view of the world. If we just teach abstinence, then that will solve all our problems. Guess what? Kids will have sex anyway! Ignoring that fact isn't a solution so lets live in the real world. These babies will grow up and instead of being productive members of society, too many of them will be uneducated and live a life of crime. Guess who they'll rob. That right...people like you! Guess what StupidMoniker! The reality is...Many people won't save for their own retirement. When all these people end up homeless they will be a burden on society as a whole and we will ALL be worse off for it...not just the unprepared people!!! I guess if you are ultra rich, you can just build a castle and never leave it so you don't have to pass all of dregs on the street.
Of course we tried having no S.S. plan, and it was disaster, and lead to much suffering among our nation's elderly. That is why we created it. People can plan for their own retirement if they want. We have 401K's, mutual funds, IRA's, and other similar plans. The government isn't preventing anyone from planning for their own retirement.
