Cruz I’m ‘Emphatic’ Balanced Budget Supporter, Want Means Tested Social Security

[Cyber Liberty]

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/03/23/cruz-im-emphatic-balanced-budget-supporter-want-means-tested-social-security/

{snip}

Cruz expressed support for means testing Social Security and raising the retirement age, but he clarified that he was talking about future generations and that “any Social Security reform that you do, for those people who are seniors, for those people who are near retirement, we need to honor the commitments we’ve made to them.”

{snip}

I just spotted this over on Breitbart.  It's a deal-breaker.  I'm 57, and I'm sure he'll make the cut-off age 58 (because every plan floated so far cuts off a year older than I am), so all the money I've been forced to invest in SS goes down the drain because I've been saving my whole life for retirement.

This is pure populism, going for the "It's not fair!!" vote, the first of many collapses to come.

[sinkspur]

Agreed.  Means testing SS is a Democrat nostrum. Raising the retirement age is fine, and should be done, but the notion that, because you've reached a certain income level at retirement and that this limits your SS income is pure populist talk.

I'm surprised he's not for raising the caps, which is another lefty idea that turns SS into a welfare program.

[Bigun]

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/03/23/cruz-im-emphatic-balanced-budget-supporter-want-means-tested-social-security/

{snip}

{snip}

I just spotted this over on Breitbart.  It's a deal-breaker.  I'm 57, and I'm sure he'll make the cut-off age 58 (because every plan floated so far cuts off a year older than I am), so all the money I've been forced to invest in SS goes down the drain because I've been saving my whole life for retirement.

This is pure populism, going for the "It's not fair!!" vote, the first of many collapses to come.

Relax man! If that were to actually happen you will be FAR beyond the age where it would affect you.

[Cyber Liberty]

Agreed.  Means testing SS is a Democrat nostrum. Raising the retirement age is fine, and should be done, but the notion that, because you've reached a certain income level at retirement and that this limits your SS income is pure populist talk.

I'm surprised he's not for raising the caps, which is another lefty idea that turns SS into a welfare program.

He's for raising the age, too, and I agree with that.

[Cyber Liberty]

Relax man! If that were to actually happen you will be FAR beyond the age where it would affect you.

You may be right about that.  I will watch closely to see if he gets specific, but I doubt that he will.  I'll have to "take his word for it." 

[alicewonders]

You may be right about that.  I will watch closely to see if he gets specific, but I doubt that he will.  I'll have to "take his word for it."

"Cruz expressed support for means testing Social Security and raising the retirement age, but he clarified that he was talking about future generations and that “any Social Security reform that you do, for those people who are seniors, for those people who are near retirement, we need to honor the commitments we’ve made to them.”

Being 58 myself, I share your concerns Cyber.  Any changes such as these should only start applying to those who are only just starting to pay into Social Security.  Anything else, would be a breach of contract.  Obviously, something has to be done - my first suggestion would be to STOP spending the money that has been put there for that use on other things.  But, I guess that's just too logical.

 

[GourmetDan]

 
Yeah... fix it as long as it doesn't impact my lifestyle...

 

[Dexter]

No offense but it's kind of selfish to not care about the retirement age going up only because it doesn't affect you.

[Cyber Liberty]

No offense but it's kind of selfish to not care about the retirement age going up only because it doesn't affect you.

I don't know who you are talking to, but I'm fine with the MRA going up.  It should.  It's a better idea than breaking the contract.

[Cyber Liberty]

Yeah... fix it as long as it doesn't impact my lifestyle...

 

Not breaking contracts with people is a central part of my lifestyle.  How about they save money by not giving out free phones?

[Cyber Liberty]

"Cruz expressed support for means testing Social Security and raising the retirement age, but he clarified that he was talking about future generations and that “any Social Security reform that you do, for those people who are seniors, for those people who are near retirement, we need to honor the commitments we’ve made to them.”

Being 58 myself, I share your concerns Cyber.  Any changes such as these should only start applying to those who are only just starting to pay into Social Security.  Anything else, would be a breach of contract.  Obviously, something has to be done - my first suggestion would be to STOP spending the money that has been put there for that use on other things.  But, I guess that's just too logical.

 

What worries me about that is "next generation" is a pretty fluid term.  Could mean anybody not at the Mandatory Retirement Age right now.

[Dexter]

I don't know who you are talking to, but I'm fine with the MRA going up.  It should.  It's a better idea than breaking the contract.

Why should it go up?

[Lando Lincoln]

Raising age requirements has some merit given how we are generally living longer than in the past (wonder what a generation of Obamacare will do). 

Means testing is another matter and just another income redistribution tactic.  And those with "means" are assuredly those who funded the program the most in their working lives.  Not very Conservative, in my view.

Ever notice Welfare never runs out of money?

[Cyber Liberty]

Why should it go up?

Because life expectancy has gone up.  When SS was first enacted, most people croaked before they got there.  Now, I don't think the MRA should go up to past the current life expectancy, but SS was never meant to apply to people who still have 20 years to live.

And raising the MRA would bloody well affect me, I'm 57.  As much as I'd like to knock off working by age 67, I am quite capable of pulling my weight longer than that.

[Cyber Liberty]

Raising age requirements has some merit given how we are generally living longer than in the past (wonder what a generation of Obamacare will do). 

Means testing is another matter and just another income redistribution tactic.  And those with "means" are assuredly those who funded the program the most in their working lives.  Not very Conservative, in my view.

Ever notice Welfare never runs out of money?

My point exactly.  Means testing SS will turn it into just another Welfare program.  It disappoints me Cruz's first response to solving the SS problem is to turn it into a liberal welfare scheme.

[Luis Gonzalez]

Not breaking contracts with people is a central part of my lifestyle.  How about they save money by not giving out free phones?

Stop that!

STOP THAT ALREADY!

Racist...

 

[Cyber Liberty]

Stop that!

STOP THAT ALREADY!

Racist...

 

Whew!  I was afraid you'd call me "Uppity."  http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2015/03/25/it-begins-new-yorker-describes-hispanic-cruz-as-uppity/

[aligncare]

Because life expectancy has gone up.  When SS was first enacted, most people croaked before they got there.  Now, I don't think the MRA should go up to past the current life expectancy, but SS was never meant to apply to people who still have 20 years to live.

And raising the MRA would bloody well affect me, I'm 57.  As much as I'd like to knock off working by age 67, I am quite capable of pulling my weight longer than that.

I admire your optimism. I've been fit my whole life; weight management, jogging, weightlifting, yoga, the whole thing.

But it's amazing (and not fully unexpected) how health status can change once you hit 60 to 63. Body parts begin wearing out pretty quick after that.

Just a few words of experience from an older gent who has spent a lifetime studying human physiology.

[Cyber Liberty]

I admire your optimism. I've been fit my whole life; weight management, jogging, weightlifting, yoga, the whole thing.

But it's amazing (and not fully unexpected) how health status can change once you hit 60 to 63. Body parts begin wearing out pretty quick after that.

Just a few words of experience from an older gent who has spent a lifetime studying human physiology.

Imagine my surprise at the bilateral hip replacements I got at age 52.   

[Dexter]

If he actually gets the nomination this is going to completely alienate any young people that might have voted for him. A Ted Cruz nomination is going to be a win for the Democrats.

[Cyber Liberty]

If he actually got the nomination this is going to completely alienate any young people that might have voted for him. A Ted Cruz nomination is going to be a win for the Democrats.

I doubt this will be the "killer issue" for the youth vote, but the Dems could make serious hay out of it for the middle age people. 

The problem is, when people reach a certain age, they start to get uptight about politicians messing around with SS because they've developed their life's plans based on an expectation it will be there, even if the amount is not huge.  They save up money in 401k accounts, so there is a significant net worth when it's time to retire. 

When a politician promises to screw over the people who scrimped and saved the most for having a nest egg (forgoing boats and RVs along the way), then he just moved onto my "screw you" list.

I am unimpressed by people saying, "Oh, you just don't want to change your 'lifestyle'"   If by that it is meant I should be OK with living in poverty because I saved my money, then that's correct.  I don't want to change.

[aligncare]

Imagine my surprise at the bilateral hip replacements I got at age 52.   

Yikes! I'm stunned at 52. I've had young patients with congenital hip dysplasia that went to surgery. And a few older patients with acquired hip dysplasia, usually degenerative.

You don't have to answer, but was it disease, trauma, degenerative, multifactorial? That's so young. I suspect you got a new lease on life after the procedure!

[Luis Gonzalez]

If he actually gets the nomination this is going to completely alienate any young people that might have voted for him. A Ted Cruz nomination is going to be a win for the Democrats.

There were a couple of things in his red meat speech at Liberty University that made me cringe.

His "imagining" a Federal government that would "uphold the sacrament of marriage" is highly disturbing coming from a guy who promises that he will fight to uphold the Constitution, since the Constitution gives the Federal government no voice in the issue. At this point in time even a majority of young Republicans and Republican-leaning voters believe that same-sex marriage should be legal so this is a loser stance for any GOP candidate.

I'm with Cruz on securing the borders and making sure that the people who come here do so in order to pursue the American Dream, but while he was critical of Obama's illegal amnesty, he did not say (or even hint at) what he will do about all the millions of people already here illegally.

This "means tested Social Security" thing is also bothersome.

[mystery-ak]

Yikes! I'm stunned at 52. I've had young patients with congenital hip dysplasia that went to surgery. And a few older patients with acquired hip dysplasia, usually degenerative.

You don't have to answer, but was it disease, trauma, degenerative, multifactorial? That's so young. I suspect you got a new lease on life after the procedure!

I had my right hip replaced at age62 ..I was born with congenital hip dislocation..spent the 1st year of my life in a cast and splints....

[Cyber Liberty]

Yikes! I'm stunned at 52. I've had young patients with congenital hip dysplasia that went to surgery. And a few older patients with acquired hip dysplasia, usually degenerative.

You don't have to answer, but was it disease, trauma, degenerative, multifactorial? That's so young. I suspect you got a new lease on life after the procedure!

Avascular Necrosis.  It hurt like a M****f****r, no painkillers helped.  How I got it is a mystery, because that usually only happens to people who've taken steroids for many years to combat asthma.