Thread: AMERICA'S GROWING SOCIAL INSECURITY By Jerry Robinson

AMERICA'S GROWING SOCIAL INSECURITY

By Jerry Robinson
April 2, 2010
NewsWithViews.com

According to a recent report released by the Social Security Administration, this year Social Security will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes. While this report may simply sound like other depressing financial headlines that are unleashed on a daily basis, this one has some teeth. According to projections by the Congressional Budget Office, Social Security was not supposed to experience an upside down year until 2016.

This report highlights the mounting problems facing Social Security in the future. Last year, Social Security recipients were informed that they would not receive a cost-of-living adjustment to their benefits in 2010. This was the first year that benefits did not have a COLA increase since the automatic adjustments were put into place back in 1975.

To understand the full extent of America's growing Social Security crisis, one must have a basic understanding of America's changing demographics.

According to U.S. government birth records, officially recorded since 1910, there are around 78 million Baby Boomers alive today. Many of these 78 million Americans have paid large amounts into government entitlement programs, most often through payroll deductions. Until now, these 78 million Baby Boomers have been funding the entitlement system for the current retirees.

But in 2008, the story began to change as the first wave of 3.2 million Boomers turned 62. That year, each of them became eligible under the current government standards to apply for early retirement benefits and to receive a monthly Social Security check for the rest of their lives. Instead of paying into the system, they began taking from the system. Later, in 2011, as this first wave begins turning 65, these citizens will become eligible for subsidized health care benefits under the Medicare system. Finally, in 2012, those of the 3.2 million early Boomers who opted not to take early retirement benefits will reach age 66 and will qualify for their full share of Social Security benefits. It is highly likely that a large majority of retiring Boomers will take the early retirement option due to the perceived weakness in the Social Security system. And this first wave is just the beginning.

Over the course of the next two decades, the remainder of the 78 million Baby Boomers – or 10,000 people every single day – will retire and become financial and medical dependents of current U.S. taxpayers. They will all retire, and will all demand their fair share of the entitlement pie which includes an assortment of benefits, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

These three entitlement programs currently make up more than 40 percent of the federal government's annual budget. And this percentage is expected to increase dramatically as Baby Boomers begin taking from the system instead of giving into it.

So what does all of this mean to you as a taxpaying citizen of the United States of America? Well, I wish I had better news. The harsh truth is your nation is bankrupt. America has mortgaged its future and has sought to delay paying the bill for as long as possible. Unfortunately, a combination of poor monetary and fiscal policies, coupled with an entitlement-crazed generation, has led our nation to the precipice of disaster. And the fruit of this noxious combination will be tasted in just a few short years.

If all this sounds like it is going to cost the U.S. government a lot of money, you would be wrong.

The enormous bill created by this entitlement crisis is going to fall squarely upon U.S. taxpayers.

Hard-working, taxpaying citizens are going to foot the bill for the retirement and medical benefits for the largest group of senior citizens in American history.

Finally, to fully understand the financial pain that these broken entitlement programs will inflict upon our nation, consider the reality of our unfunded obligations. Many citizens are now aware that America has an unprecedented total national debt of over $12 trillion. But you may be shocked to learn that this amount does not reflect what the federal government has promised to pay millions of Americans in entitlement benefits down the road. Those future obligations put our real debt figure at over $100 trillion – a staggering sum that is roughly twice as large as the total household net worth of the entire United States.

Ironically, America's failed entitlement programs, created by politicians under the guise of aiding our nation's citizens, will instead impoverish our children and grandchildren. While our leaders in Washington continue blindly down the path of excessive spending, they are adding astronomical debt loads to America's economic burden. As the various entitlement systems collapse, big government's answer will be predictable: massive tax hikes and more money printing. History is merciful in telling us where this will lead.

So what are you doing to protect yourself and your family from the greatest debtor nation in world history?

http://www.newswithviews.com/Jerry/robinson101.htm

Every time these people write these articles about Social Security and the Baby Boomers, they fail to address the age group, the period of years over which these "Baby Boomers" will be retiring, what the difference is between this group and any other group and basically try to make these people appear to be reason the US is bankrupt.

The US isn't going bankrupt because of Social Security or the Baby Boomers. The US is bankrupt because of illegal immigration, excess legal immigration, mandated income tax, free trade treason, a War on Drugs and a no offshore oil drilling policy since 1982.

The only reason Social Security is upside down this year is because the entire economy is upside down resulting in 27 million unemployed or under-employed workers who aren't paying into Social Security and their employers aren't paying into it. But the Stock Market is roaring towards 11,000; banks are experiencing record profits; and sales in our automotive sector are up over 40%. Yet, the 27 million workers are still unemployed, they still aren't paying into Social Security, their employers still are paying into Social Security and where does that leave the Social Security Trust Fund? Underfunded for every year this continues.

So what is the solution? The solution to Social Security is the FairTax that doesn't depend on workers or employers any more. It depends on sales of new products and services, no matter where they're produced, if they're sold in the US, they're sold with a FairTax whose rate is composed of a 14.91 general revenue rate and an ear-marked 8.09 rate to fund Social Security and MediCare. If the FairTax had been passed in 1999 when it was first introduced, the Trust Funds would be overflowing with surpluses from the big "booms" in sales and services during that decade.

It's not too late. It's time to fix it and pass the FairTax which not only fixes Social Security and MediCare; it helps fix illegal immigration because of the Rebates that are only available to US citizens and legal residents creating a wage disadvantage for illegal aliens large enough for employers to tell them "thanks but no thanks"; it helps to fix free trade treason because it taxes imports equally to domestic products and services; increases the expendable income of individuals and the retained earnings of our companies.

There is no other single economic solution as crucial or as valuable to fixing our economy than this simple tax legislation that a) repeals all income-based taxes b) replaces them with a national retail sales tax on new products and services purchased for non-business purposes and c) offers a Rebate to exempt essentials up to the family consumption allowance to all US citizens and legal residents who sign up for it.

Stop being logical Judy, our government is littered with lawmakers who think Guam can capsize with increased military presence. (GA Congressman Hank Johnson, who replaced Cynthia McKinney).

Seriously though, there is absolutely no desire to fix the real problems and set our country on the right course - too much money involved by the foxes in the hen house and their lobbyists. We will never recover as long as the incentives favor outsourcing of manufacturing to overseas sweat shops and insourcing of illegal labor to do those jobs that cannot be outsourced.

We can vote the idiots out, again, and replace them with the people who support free trade, outsourcing and insourcing.

As an about to retire baby boomer, I resent the fact that social security is considered as an entitlement. I think I remember paying Social Security, with matching funds from my employers, and Medicare since my teens, my entire working career. I don't think it compares with bailouts, welfare, section 8, etc., but it is frequently compared with an "entitlement" as though we were never forced to contribute.

Judy: Don't forget that the govt has stolen every penny in the Social Security fund to finance other projects. Now, with the U.S. broke, the money can't be paid back without borrowing. Dems and Repubs both have stolen our futures.

Yonger people often ask me, if I'm so concerned, why don't I opt out of Social Security and Medicare when my time comes to retire. My answer is that I would gladly go it on my own, if the government will kindly return every penny confiscated from my paycheck for my entire career. I would be a wealthy person by now had I invested that money.

Government corruption,corporate greed, outsourcing, loss of manufacturing, trying to sustain a nanny state on a consumer based society, acting as a police force for the world, bleeding money to oil countries, importing poor under educated third world slave labor, these things are killing America it's not social security or the American worker it is our leaders. Many of you know this its the 30-40% uninformed public that concern me.

I would say we have three main financial problems:
First, is that work has been redefined, all through the postwar years. Because professional vocations paid more than crafts or trades, our government thought it was good to encourage people to seek professional employment, which typically requires a college education. Some professions are necessary but too many imbalances our system. And the only way that we can continue to employ a higher ratio of professionals is if we have higher levels of immigration.

Immigration, although really not needed, (because we have the ability to invent labor saving devices), might benefit us if every immigrant was a productive craftsman. Instead they quickly learn that to be an American is to seek, by hook or crook, to become wealthy fast. Some come to America because that is where they expect to get wealthy. They usually learn the worst values in our society.

Immigration has been made even worse by the family reunification policies begun by Edward Kennedy and others, responding emotionally to what should be an economic and national security issue. So on top of the exploding professional class, and opportunistic immigrants, we have the (too frequently) sponge class group of family members of immigrants.



Immigration of foreign senior citizens who can draw SSI benefits (which come out of the general fund) is expected to grow eightfold, to 16 million, by 2050. We need to be warning the younger generation that their whole future is being threatened by the lax policies of their current, liberal, heros.

Righto GaPatriot, ReggieMay, oldguy and Captainron! And I would only add that the 49 million Americans presently on Social Security and MediCare receiving the earned benefits they worked and paid for are not the problem, the 62 million Americans under the age of 65 drawing benefits equal to twice what the average Social Security and MediCare retiree receives, that they didn't work or pay for, that being the 70 million + on MediCaid and SCHIP, food stamps, HUD Housing, unemployment, COBRA and Trade Adjustment Act benefits, and so much more because the adults don't have jobs that pay sustainable wages.

So all these people trying to blame SS retirees for all our problems are clueless. These retirees are not responsible for anything except having worked their asses off for 40 plus years building the greatest economic superpower the world has ever known that a bunch of no good low down scum bag traitors have destroyed in less than a decade.