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

[DCPatriot]

Well yeah! There will always be something called Social Security but it won't look ANYTHING like it does today because THAT is completely unsustainable!

Not with the import of 40 million future 'subjects', it won't be.   

[Cyber Liberty]

Maybe Oceander was attempting 'sarcasm'?      I'll give him the benefit of any doubt here.

You can, I won't.  Apparently he is young enough to adjust course for his retirement plans, not all of us have that luxury.  Screw us.

[Bigun]

I didn't vote myself into anything. I didn't get a voice or a choice but the monies were taken out anyway.

Lousy plan, lousier execution, but the money paid into it belongs to those who paid the money into the system.

Your Grandmother got benefits because she paid for them.

Let's not mean test anything.

Calculate how much money was taken from my wages from the day they started taking that money, adjust the amount for inflation, and write me a check.

I'll take care of my own retirement.

The part I bolded and underlined is totally incorrect!  If that were actually true SS wouldn't be the total mess it is today.  The TRUTH is that SS payments began to be made almost from the day of inception.  If grandma had had to wait until her money had earned enough money to fund her payments the story would be VASTLY different!

[Bigun]

You can, I won't.  Apparently he is young enough to adjust course for his retirement plans, not all of us have that luxury.  Screw us.

I am completely unaware of anyone, and certainly not Ted Cruz, who is espousing the kind of attitude you are attempting to put out there.  EVERY proposal I have ever heard from anyone has advocated taking care of those already in the system in some fashion.

[Longiron]

I am completely unaware of anyone, and certainly not Ted Cruz, who is espousing the kind of attitude you are attempting to put out there.  EVERY proposal I have ever heard from anyone has advocated taking care of those already in the system in some fashion.

DITTO

[Bigun]

Here is the central question we ALL should be asking IMHO:

WHY is the federal government in the insurance business in the first place?  What word or phrase in the Constitution allows them to go into such a business in competition with the private sector?

[Cyber Liberty]

I am completely unaware of anyone, and certainly not Ted Cruz, who is espousing the kind of attitude you are attempting to put out there.  EVERY proposal I have ever heard from anyone has advocated taking care of those already in the system in some fashion.

I was referring to a certain poster up thread (named after a really large body of water).  I posted this thread, and my beef was the half sentence of Cruz's weasel words I hear from every pol that's tried to dance on this third rail.  "We'll protect people close to retirement."  How close?  How "protected?"  My experience with this government is I'm always just a tad outside of the demarcation line.  "Targeted tax cuts for the middle class!"  I never seem to make little enough to see it.  "Tax hikes on the wealthy!"  I always get hit.  And I make less than $100K!.  I've been around long enough to know what a target feels like.

The closer one gets to MRA, the more difficult it is to make the kind of financial course correction necessary to keep the hopes of a decent retirement alive, the kind where you don't have to live in a shack and eat cat food, and be dependent on the charity of my children.

To top it off, people who call themselves "conservative" think throwing the money that belongs to me away is the proper thing to do, for the greater good.  That's leftist claptrap.

[Cyber Liberty]

Here is the central question we ALL should be asking IMHO:

WHY is the federal government in the insurance business in the first place?  What word or phrase in the Constitution allows them to go into such a business in competition with the private sector?

The government shouldn't be, and if I had a time machine I'd go back and see to it that it isn't.  As Luis said, I didn't vote for this.

[Cyber Liberty]

DITTO

Please read my Reply #56.  I simply don't trust politicians of either party who "promise to protect me."  That's my beef, nothing more, nothing less.

[Dexter]

WHY is the federal government in the insurance business in the first place?

Without social security a lot of seniors would be completely screwed. The reason the government got involved was because it felt some kind of moral obligation to find a way to help its elderly comfortably live out the end of their lives. Whether or not it should do that is something else entirely I guess, but that is the reason.

[Bigun]

 

"Tax hikes on the wealthy!"  I always get hit.  And I make less than $100K!.

I could Write a book in response to that one sentence alone but will refrain and only say that that "Wealth" and "Income" are two very different things. The truly wealthy are able to manage their affairs in such a way that they have very little of that thing called "income". 

That is whey we must do away with the Marxist income tax entirely and return to the kind of taxes universally endorsed by our founders in Federalist 21. Taxes on articles of consumption only!

[Bigun]

Without social security a lot of seniors would be completely screwed. The reason the government got involved was because it felt some kind of moral obligation to find a way to help its elderly comfortably live out the end of their lives. Whether or not it should do that is something else entirely I guess, but that is the reason.

If you are young and naive you might believe that when you are old and more experienced you will realize that they just found another way to steal more of your money and use it to get themselves re-elected.

[Cyber Liberty]

Without social security a lot of seniors would be completely screwed. The reason the government got involved was because it felt some kind of moral obligation to find a way to help its elderly comfortably live out the end of their lives. Whether or not it should do that is something else entirely I guess, but that is the reason.

'Zackly.

[Cyber Liberty]

I could Write a book in response to that one sentence alone but will refrain and only say that that "Wealth" and "Income" are two very different things. The truly wealthy are able to manage their affairs in such a way that they have very little of that thing called "income". 

That is whey we must do away with the Marxist income tax entirely and return to the kind of taxes universally endorsed by our founders in Federalist 21. Taxes on articles of consumption only!

 

[Cyber Liberty]

I could Write a book in response to that one sentence alone but will refrain and only say that that "Wealth" and "Income" are two very different things. The truly wealthy are able to manage their affairs in such a way that they have very little of that thing called "income". 

That is whey we must do away with the Marxist income tax entirely and return to the kind of taxes universally endorsed by our founders in Federalist 21. Taxes on articles of consumption only!

Believe me, I understand the principle.  Unfortunately, I wasn't born rich, just good looking....

[Bigun]

[Luis Gonzalez]

The part I bolded and underlined is totally incorrect!  If that were actually true SS wouldn't be the total mess it is today.  The TRUTH is that SS payments began to be made almost from the day of inception.  If grandma had had to wait until her money had earned enough money to fund her payments the story would be VASTLY different!

That is such a bucket of unadulterated bunk.

The SS is a mess because the Federal government mismanaged the trust, not because Grandma stopped paying into it.

In fact, no one can stop paying into the SS system, it is a Federally mandated exemption, so arguing that WE should somehow not expect the benefits promised by the government in exchange for the monies forcibly taken from our pay for any reason is BS.

What we should demand is that they clean house, shut down the rampant fraud and abuse, and deliver on the promise of the forced deductions.

BTW...

Are you returning your SS checks or cashing them?

[Bigun]

That is such a bucket of unadulterated bunk.

The SS is a mess because the Federal government mismanaged the trust, not because Grandma stopped paying into it.

In fact, no one can stop paying into the SS system, it is a Federally mandated exemption, so arguing that WE should somehow not expect the benefits promised by the government in exchange for the monies forcibly taken from our pay for any reason is BS.

What we should demand is that they clean house, shut down the rampant fraud and abuse, and deliver on the promise of the forced deductions.

BTW...

Are you returning your SS checks or cashing them?

What I wrote is 100% true whether or not YOU ever realize it! 

I cash them!  I made them an offer MANY times over my working life and they refused it every single time! To late now!
 

[Luis Gonzalez]

What I wrote is 100% true whether or not YOU ever realize it! 

I cash them!  I made them an offer MANY times over my working life and they refused it every single time! To late now!
 

I'm not the one out of touch with reality Bigun.

[Luis Gonzalez]

What I wrote is 100% true whether or not YOU ever realize it! 

I cash them!  I made them an offer MANY times over my working life and they refused it every single time! To late now!
 

YOU are entitled to YOUR checks because YOU paid into the system and YOU weren't given a choice about it, but Grandma is not entitled to payments in spite of the fact that SHE paid into the same system that YOU paid into without getting a choice in the matter either.

Rich.

[Bigun]

YOU are entitled to YOUR checks because YOU paid into the system and YOU weren't given a choice about it, but Grandma is not entitled to payments in spite of the fact that SHE paid into the same system that YOU paid into without getting a choice in the matter either.

Rich.

You didn't even read what I wrote and if you did you didn't understand it!

What I said was that the social security system started making payments to people who had paid very little if anything into the system right from the start!  The system, as  it is currently configured, is actuarially unsound and ALWAYS has been!  It is a government run PONZI scheme!

[Dexter]

You didn't even read what I wrote and if you did you didn't understand it!

What I said was that the social security system started making payments to people who had paid very little if anything into the system right from the start!  The system, as  it is currently configured, is actuarially unsound and ALWAYS has been!  It is a government run PONZI scheme!

Young people work to help support the elderly in exchange for the same when they are elderly.

[Bigun]

Young people work to help support the elderly in exchange for the same when they are elderly.

Yes! That was the stated plan. Problem is that there were 7 or 8 young people working for every one receiving benefits in the beginning but now that has dropped far below 3 to 1 and will soon be down to 2 to 1.

AND the fact that All the money that has been paid in has been stolen and diverted to other purposes.

[Luis Gonzalez]

You didn't even read what I wrote and if you did you didn't understand it!

What I said was that the social security system started making payments to people who had paid very little if anything into the system right from the start!  The system, as  it is currently configured, is actuarially unsound and ALWAYS has been!  It is a government run PONZI scheme!

Oh no, you're not going to get away with that.

The post is still up for everyone to see.

I said:

"Your Grandmother got benefits because she paid for them."

You highlighted that line, then said:

"The part I bolded and underlined is totally incorrect!"

Then you come back and argue that you cash your checks because you were given no choice but to pay into the system.

Am I going a bit fast for you here?

[Dexter]

I'm only 26 and I am willing to work hard to support older people on social security. Lots of young people feel the same, and I suspect they will still feel the same when I am the elderly one. Sorry everybody, but I completely disagree with getting rid of social security. It helps a lot of people, and there are other huge spending cuts we could be making instead.