Hillary Rodham Clinton Next President Of The United States.

[jeff1234]

I still have faith in the United States too guys and I don't think that Trump is that big of a challenge to the democratic principles either.

Trump's win (by virtue of the electoral votes he received) has to be considered an amazing feat. Not only did he have to beat an unbeleiveably powerful political machine name Clinton et al; he had to defeat a news media that in my opinion was obviously Pro-Clinton - and they were on a seek and destroy Trump mission; and finally he had to defeat the "Old Guard" Republicans who were against him because he wasn't one of their good old boy network. His qualifications for president have been questioned by the "professional politicians" but after watching them for th last 40 years I'm not too impressed by Congress; on either side of the aisle! I am already seeing the majority in Congress doing to Trump what they did to Obama - not on the same scale but they are still running amok. Heck Trump hasn't been inaugurated yet and they are attacking Social Security already.

I hope Trump will rise to the occasion and be the leader that America needs now...

Social Security has been a dead man walking for a long time. The gutless politicians could have made easy fixes to it years ago but they didn't. Now it needs radical surgery to keep it alive.

 

[Xmaspast]

Social Security has been a dead man walking for a long time. The gutless politicians could have made easy fixes to it years ago but they didn't. Now it needs radical surgery to keep it alive.

Not radical. Actually pretty simple tweaks. But to losers won't do the simple things. They want you to be sick, broke and stupid.

 

[cwo4uscgret]

The simplest fix to Social Security is two fold.

First it is not tax dollars - it is money, earned by the people (well most of them) for their retirement. It is not a bank account for Congress to rob. Congress must stop taking Social Security money and putting it in the general fund.

Second Congress needs to repay Social Security monies they've misappropriated.

Of course SS has been called a Ponzi Scheme before!

 

[TomAtAlki]

The simplest fix to Social Security is two fold.

First it is not tax dollars - it is money, earned by the people (well most of them) for their retirement. It is not a bank account for Congress to rob. Congress must stop taking Social Security money and putting it in the general fund.

Second Congress needs to repay Social Security monies they've misappropriated.

Of course SS has been called a Ponzi Scheme before!

I do agree with your first two points.

I believe, and I may be wrong, but I believe that the money Congress "borrowed" from Social Security is backed by USA bonds, a safe investment for Social Security.

I also believe a simple fix for the Social Security shortfall (which is 30-40 years in the future) is to increase the income cap for social security contributions.

I also believe that privatization of Social Security and/or Medicare would be a huge boon to the financial industry and leave old people broke and dying in the streets, the way it was before FDR.

T/

 

[jeff1234]

I do agree with your first two points.

I believe, and I may be wrong, but I believe that the money Congress "borrowed" from Social Security is backed by USA bonds, a safe investment for Social Security.

I also believe a simple fix for the Social Security shortfall (which is 30-40 years in the future) is to increase the income cap for social security contributions.

I also believe that privatization of Social Security and/or Medicare would be a huge boon to the financial industry and leave old people broke and dying in the streets, the way it was before FDR.

T/

Tom, I agree, it always amazes me when politicians talk about letting Wall Street handle our SS money. They seem to have learned nothing from 2008. Or else maybe they are thinking about the sign-on bonuses they'd get from Goldman Sachs after they retired from government.

We've increased the cap many times but now it seems to be verbotten.
Another possible solution is, now that we are living longer, move the retirement age higher.

The date that I've seen is SS running out of money in 2034.

If we wait for 2034 to make a change it will only affect those people who started collecting SS in 2034, a very small percentage of SS recipients. To make a significant change by 2034 the rules need to be changed very soon.

 

[TomAtAlki]

Another possible solution is, now that we are living longer, move the retirement age higher.

The date that I've seen is SS running out of money in 2034.

If we wait for 2034 to make a change it will only affect those people who started collecting SS in 2034, a very small percentage of SS recipients. To make a significant change by 2034 the rules need to be changed very soon.

Raising the retirement age sort of makes sense except that, looking not too far into the future there will be less and less jobs for humans to do. I actually believe that in the not to distant future we will have to not only lower the retirement age but set some sort of "living wage" for all people. But that's another discussion.

T/

 

[jeff1234]

Raising the retirement age sort of makes sense except that, looking not too far into the future there will be less and less jobs for humans to do. I actually believe that in the not to distant future we will have to not only lower the retirement age but set some sort of "living wage" for all people. But that's another discussion.

T/

True. Good jobs aren't being lost to Mexicans, they're being lost to robots. Even truck drivers and cab drivers are being automated (who would have ever guessed this would happen?).

Giving people a 'living wage' or an income floor sounds like a great idea, no more applying for welfare or pretending to look for a job. It
is being tried in Norway and Finland. Ontario, Canada is piloting such a program.

But I have 2 concerns. One, every time the government guarantees something (see student loans) prices go up so the consumer is back where he started.
Two, as with other good ideas (see OBamacare) who pays for it?

 

[Noesdeayer]

In the future there will be fewer and fewer jobs for human beings to do, IF they are not sufficiently educated and trained to do other tasks.
It is the moral obligation of society to think ahead and plan for such a possibility.There are plenty of jobs in public service that will always require the use of face to face human contact.Moreover,the simple affording people of a living wage or stipend detracts from the individual's feeling of personal worth and can be the root cause of all kinds of mental problems.
I saw this first hand on a trip to Santa Clara, Cuba in 2005 before any kind of individual economic activity for profit began to be allowed.Many of those on stiped were using it up on drinking rum all day out of desperation for something to do.

 

[cwo4uscgret]

TomAtAlki - Social Security was never intended as a source of revenue and the trillions of SS Money misappropriated by Congress is long gone and Congress has no intention of ever returning the money to social security. The remaining SS dollars may be in bonds and securities but the money Congress essentially stole from Social Security went into the general fund and expended. Theft.

 

[Ries]

TomAtAlki - Social Security was never intended as a source of revenue and the trillions of SS Money misappropriated by Congress is long gone and Congress has no intention of ever returning the money to social security. The remaining SS dollars may be in bonds and securities but the money Congress essentially stole from Social Security went into the general fund and expended. Theft.

I am always amused at people who tell me, with complete authority, what something like SS was "intended" for.
Like all laws, it was a compromise between many different constituiencies, all with different desires and goals.
They did not agree at the time. There were a hundred different "intentions", many contradictory.

It was never a savings plan, though- it was always a tax. And it always a welfare plan.
Virtually nobody, unless they drop dead at 44, pays in more than they get out.
Since the 30's, the social security of today is always paid for by the taxpayers of next year.
Thats the way it was designed.