Obama ad says McCain supports "cutting benefits in half" for Social Security-False!

If people start taking part of their SS out of the system to invest otherwise the system will fail and benefits will have to be cut.

 

You don't seem to understand how private accounts would work.

If a particular taxpayer wants to opt out of the Social Security system and set up a private account that taxpayer would receive no benefits from Social Security.

So it wouldn't effect other taxpayers that do not opt out for a private account.

BTW - I have news for you. The system is going to fail and benefits will be cut either way. It's a ponzi that was destined to fail the day it was conceived. Especially with the Federal Government taking the money to pay other bills instead of saving it the way that they were supposed to.

 

Investing social security contributions doesn't work. This was a politically motivated scheme of Bush's. Contributions of current workers pay for benefits of current retirees. So if you invest part of your contribution you're taking benefits away from that little grey haired lady in the retirement home.

 

He got his speeches mixed up. If he gets elected, he will be faced with cutting SS benefits(at least 10%), raising the retirement age to 72, means testing ss bennies (if you have a pension or wealth, you get no SS), and raising the payroll tax (a 20% raise to start).

And so will McCain--the party is over, the Medicare and SS roosters are coming home to stay, and now we must pay.

 

I do know how the system works, if people start pulling out then the system will fail for sure. And, we'll have a lot of inexperienced people investing and finding out they made a mistake when it's time to retire or they get hurt and can't work before their nest egg has matured. We in the system will still have to take care of these people so it's best if we all keep investing (my $00.02).

What's making the system fail is our lawmakers keep borrowing from the fund and not paying it back. If they would leave the fund alone it would be ok. Every year there are more workers than people who live long enough to retire so the premise and the program is sound. We just need to stop using the money for other things.

 

Not really, there are plenty of other tax revenue and more pork fat that can be cut so that these programs can be left alone. We can start by not building bridges to nowhere or taking the money when there is no bridge.

 

Leaving SS and Medicare alone will not fix the problem. The systems are broke. Partially because of 50 million workers who were killed by abortionists and are not paying in, the ponzi scheme of Social Security, based on current workers paying for current retirees has broken down--we aren't having enough kids to keep the scheme going.. As the bi-partisan Concord Coalition's figures clearly show, and as the government's notice they send you every two years about your SS account also demonstrates, the unfunded liabilities of the SS and Medicare system are around 53Trillion Dollars. Unless we address the problem NOW, within 25 years it will take the ENTIRE FEDERAL BUDGET just to pay SS and Medicare.

There are four things that must be done, and NOW.

1. Raise Payroll taxes and impose no limit on them.

2. Lower benefits for future retirees by about 10%

3. Means test SS--if you are well off and have another pension, you do the Biden Test of Patriotism--you get nothing.

4. Raise the Retirement age to at least 72, maybe 75--we are living longer too--

Each year that we go by this without fixing it, the more it will cost to fix it.

look here-- http://www.concordcoalition.org/

 

I agree with you here, the systems need to be overhauled but they will never last if the government continues to borrow the money and not pay it back. The overhauling needs to remove the bureaucracy and red tape so doctors and patients can d what they need to do. Last report I read is Medicare uses 70% of it's funds for administration and 30% for patient care. If we could get that administration cost down to 10 or 15% I think the program will work.

Most of this is because the money keeps getting borrowed and not repaid. We need a bill to make this money off limits to law makers. There is also a high administration overhead for SS. In this technological day and age, the overhead needs to be cut, the money protected and the system can be solvent.

I agree there is a problem, I just believe we should fix the obvious before we go with the extremes you mention.

 

Diamond-Orszag Social Security Proposal

I think this is the best plan for fixing Social Security:

www.centrists.org/pages/2003/12/11_lemieux_wealth.html

 

Democrats always try to frighten the elderly with lies about what Republicams will do to social security.

It's called "unity" by lying and being divisive.