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player #21445 James S. of Brant, MI
BELOW THE FOLD ---------------
Today are the NFL Conference Championship games. Both games look to
be exciting matchups. I will be cheering for my favorite team, The
Packers and my local team, The Steelers. So everyone, pull up a comfy
chair and lets get ready to rumble.
Make sure to check the fun links down at the bottom.
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For today I am giving my answer to the SS problem. Some might
wonder why I am doing this. It is because those who have lied and are
lying and the mainstream media which has allowed this to go on for
so many years control everything. I figure somebody somewhere needs
to put the truth out there. And hopefully at least a few who read it
will tell a few of their friends who will tell a few of their friends.
If you have already read part I and/or part II you can skip to part III.
** Part I **
With the recent news about SS and proposed changes to the program,
I thought today I would talk about it. SS has been lied about so
much for so many years almost no one has any idea about how the
program is run or is funded. The elected officials say everything
is on the table to solve budget problems. This is not true. What
I am going to cover here is NOT on the table. So here goes.
First, did you know that the entire SS program, which is one of the
largest if not the largest in the budget, rests on the back of those
making $1 to $106,800 dollars. Make below $106,800 and you pay 15.3%
on everything you earn (although this is hidden to many because if you
work for a company you pay half and the company pays half. But anyone
self-employed directly sees the full tax). Every dollar earned over the
limit is not taxed. Therefore, from $106,801 on up is SS tax free which
equates to a 15.3% tax cut. So here we have a program supported totally
by the poor and the lower middle class. What this means is if you earn
$106,800 you pay $16,340 in SS/Medicare tax. If you make $250,000 you
pay $16,340. Make $500,000, a million, ten million, a hundred million..
doesn't matter you pay $16,340. So someone making one million a year
pays essentially a SS/medicare tax of about 1.5% -not the 15.3% the
bottom end pays. So the rich have been getting a huge tax cut for
decades while the poor and lower middle class have been hammered. But
this is not the worst. Tune in next week for even more on this subject...
** Part II **
So for decades, since the last "Save SS" meetings, those earning less than
$106,800 have overpaid into SS hundreds of billions, if not trillions of
dollars. People were told at the time by their elected leaders that this
money was needed so that in later years, when the baby boomers started
hitting the system, there would be money there to pay for their benefits.
As time went on some began to become worried about what was happening to
these extra dollars. Over and over our elected officials stated do not
worry that money is in a lock box and cannot be touched.
Well, here we are later, baby boomers are starting to retire, we have a
president who has thrown away trillions of dollars on ill-fated economic
rescue plans and a deficit reduction committee has been conviened. And
what is one of the first things they start looking at??? How to save
social security.
A thinking person might ask, "Why does social security program have anything
to do with deficit reduction?? Why aren't the extra trillions paid in over
all these past years being used to pay the extra benefits not being covered
by current collections? The answer - BECAUSE THOSE TRILLIONS IN THE LOCKBOX
ARE GONE...STOLEN BY OUR OWN GOVERNMENT!!!
How was this done? Federal Government runs a deficit. To minimize the
deficit as much as possible it goes to the SS account,takes out the extra
dollars paid in by the lowest income earners and leaves behind an IOU for
the amount taken. Now that baby boomers are hitting the system SS takes
some of the IOU's and trys to collect on them. The federal government
simply says sorry...can't do.
So what does the committee then do? Recommends raising the years those at the
lower end must work before they can collect and slightly raise the cap. And
continue to lie to the american people.
Try and find this information anywhere but here...good luck. It is so
hidden by lies and half-truths it is extremely hard to figure out. If
the federal government was a private company and pulled this all its
officials would be thrown in prison.
Next week The Answer no one wants to talk about.....
** Part III **
Recently the Presidential Debt Commission leaked out some of their ideas
for reducing government debt. First program they seem to have attacked....
their favorite program for attack over the years...SS of course. Their
answer ....the same old raise the cap...although this year they added a new
twist...raise the retirement age to 68. What does this mean? After some
time we will be right back where we are today. This raise the cap and/or
rate and the age is a bandaid at best. It didn't work 40 years ago. It didn't
work 30 years ago. And it won't work this time.
So what is THE ANSWER? First, take the cap off. Why should everyone earning
over $106,800 dollars a year get a 15.3% tax cut on every dollar over that
amount? Second, limit the retirement payout to the current top earning
amount. Why? This is not supposed to be a millionaire retirement program.
If the rich want a better retirement, they can take some of their extra income
and fund their own extra retirement program. Third, the SS/Medicare rates should
be dropped to the amount needed to barely keep the programs in the black so
that taking the cap off does not end up in a huge overpayment into the programs.
The reason for this is the government has already shown that it will steal any
extra funds it can get its hands on. There is no lockbox to save these funds
safely into for future use.
Therefore, the only safe thing to do is make sure the income matches the outgo
at the current time. This means at the end of each year the rates may need to
be adjusted up or down less than a percentage point to keep the programs. This
also means that overall companies should not see a much of a change in their
SS/Medicare costs since most of their employees make less than the current cap
and should receive a rate drop as will the employer in these cases. So employers
will have many employees with a rate drop and a few employees with a cost increase
as they now pay on every dollar over the cap limit. A rate drop to something like
5% employee 5% employer should work. This would mean for most workers a tax cut
of up to several thousand per year.
Some have complained that SS is an illegal ponsi scheme. This is not true. It
has always been a pay as you go system. Same as welfare, or unemployment benefits,
or food stamps. SS is just another government program. The only difference ever
was that it was totally funded by the poor and lower middle class.
By making these suggested changes never again will SS be used as a political
football. Never again will those near or currently receiving benefits be scared
that what they worked for will be taken away. Never again will younger people
just entering the workforce be scared into believing that they are paying into
a system that will not be there for them.
Finally, never again will the Fed Government be able to pay for their wild
spending ways by stealing SS money from the lower middle class and poor. Face
it, nearly all government positions, both elected and unelected, are held by
the rich. And they were more than happy to keep this system going the way
it was so that they had a slush fund paid by the poor and middle class
(excess SS payments) to grab and throw around to pet projects and their friends.
This is the reason the current commission came up with the solution that they
did. It keeps the same system going....keeps the same slush fund paid by the
poor and lower middle class going. And only exposes a few thousand more
of the rich income to SS tax(by raising the cap a few thousand) but leaves the
rest of their income untouched by SS tax. They have no problem looking down
at the lower class ditch diggers/house painters/house cleaners/farm workers/
nurses/fast food workers/etc. and saying from their cushy chairs craddling their
fat lazy butts, "You can all work 3 years longer to receive your benefits.."
Everyone needs to rise with a yell of "HELL NO..take off the cap and lower our
rates." Otherwise we will all continue to be screwed by these rich _______
(fill in the blank with the word your religion allows).
** Part IV **
If you are reading all this you might wonder..how can there be a part IV? Well,
if what you are about to read is new to you it may be the most shocking part
of all.
A few years ago congress added a Part D benefit to Medicare. This benefit was
to help seniors pay for their medicines. However it has been found that
veterans through the VA can purchase drugs on average for 33% less than seniors
under Medicare Part D. Why is that?
The reason VA gets drugs cheaper is that the VA negotiates the prices it will
pay based on its buying power, just as Walmart uses its buying power to negotiate
cheaper prices from suppliers. So why doesn't Medicare do this? It has many more
members than the VA so should be able to get prices at least as low, and probably
lower, than the VA.
The reason Medicare does not negotiate for lower prices is because a group in
Congress, led by Sen. John McCain, had it specifically written into the Part D
legislation that it was ILLEGAL for Medicare to negotiate lower prices. The
reason (excuse) given was that the Big Drug companies needed the extra funds
to research and find new drugs. Of course the real reason couldn't be so the
drug companies could continue to be some of the most profitable companies out
there and continue to pay their CEO's tens of millions of dollars each year
(only $106,800 of which pays into SS/Medicare - the rest is free of these
taxes).
*** Part V ***
Well, the superbowl is over, now back to the serious stuff. Has
everyone been noticing that the federal budget is now back front and
center? Especially the deficit. And what is the first thing our
congresspeople start hammering on? Social Security of course. Well,
I have done more study, digging my way through the lies and
misinformation, and finding out things I never realized before. So,
here is the truth that is NEVER covered out there.
Back in the '80's during the last SS crisis changes were made that
was supposed to fix SS way into the future. Since the number of retires
would not grow on a straight line, but rather in a wavy fashion, with
peaks and valleys, the SS fixers decided to collect more SS tax than
needed in the early years, so when the first bubble hit around 2010
there would be savings to cover the addition expense.
Well, here we are this year at beginning of the retiree bubble. And
for the first time since the '80's SS fix SS will be in the red. And to
hear our fearless leaders and every news channel, this is terrible
and the SS sky is falling.
What is the TRUTH? During the years from the last SS fix to this year,
you and me have overpaid in to SS $2.1 TRILLION DOLLARS. This year
SS is going to be $45 billion. That means the SS account will still
have .055 TRILLION in it. So what is the problem?
The problem is that SS by law can only buy Treasury Bonds. Since
the federal government took that money and blew it all and more,now
when SS wants to cash in $45 billion to cover its obligations, the
only way the Federal Government can pay off is to increase the deficit.
Has anyone else noticed that when many of these govt officials and
talking heads on the financial channels talks about waht SS is holding
they use the term "worthless IOU's". Yet those same people go onand
on about how we can never default on our debt when they talk about
the debt China, India, UK, etc. holds.
What gives??? SS is holding the same debt bonds as all these foreign
countries? How can SS bonds be "worthless IOU's" but all these
foreign countries have bonds that we will never default on?
IT IS A LIE! If the Fed Government is not going to cheerfully
cover SS bonds then they have defaulted and no country holding our
debt is safe. You cannot say, these bonds are worthless and those bonds
are safe.
So what is the answer? Those of us nearing SS age or already there
are in the driver's seat on this one. We did our job and paid and
paid and paid. They stole it. The answer we need to demand is
take the cap off so the SS tax is paid on EVERY DOLLAR EARNED (no more
15.2% tax cut for the rich), cap the payout amount at a modest
level and then lower the tax rate so that
the amount collected in equals the amount going out. Because it
does no good to overpay since the Fed Govt does not want to return
any money when needed. Also demand that these attacks on SS from
the left, right and middle stop now. SS is a safety retirement
system. No one is getting rich on it. The rich can supplement
a higher retirement if they choose.
You know there is only one govt program that is entirely self funded
and that is SS. Every other program from food stamps to defense only
takes out. Yet SS is the program they go after time after time.
So, the next time you use your Medicare Part D to purchase your medications
remember you are paying 33% more on average to support research and not to
pay the drug CEO's tens of millions of dollars each year.
Why would our representatives and senators do this to us? They want the huge
amounts of money that Big Pharma dumps into their reelection campaigns each
year.
So there it is. Parts I through III shows how congress steals your excess
SS payments. Part IV shows how congress hands 33% of your medicine costs to
the Big Drug companies as a payoff for supporting their reelection campaigns.
**** Part VI ****
I was going to move onto another pressing topic. But, the attacks have
been coming so fast and furious against SS I felt I needed to touch on the
topic again. One main reason is the group who has decided to go after SS.
It wouldn't be so bad if it were just abccbsnbccnntbnmsnbc, which are nothing
more than lapdogs for this administration, never asking questions tougher than
"Would you like another pillow?"
Where these attacks are coming is from FoxNews/FoxBusiness. Whatever happened
to "We Report, you decide?" I have watched Fox for years and although they are
far from perfect, who is, they have at least attempted to give both sides of
issues. And unlike the other lapdog networks, although they are conservative
leaning, they have a number of liberals who get plenty of air time to try and
sell their dribble.
However on the issue of SS and Medicare Fox has thrown all pretense of being
even handed out the window. From Cavuto to Hannity to Varney to OReilly they
sing the same exact tune - blaming SS for blowing the budget, increasing the
debt, being a failed bankrupt program, a ponsi scheme, etc. And not one voice
is allowed in to give a reasoned discussion on the issue. The very few times
I have seen anyone allowed on they are treated worse than idiot colmes, the
incredibly far left liberal, and shouted down.
The worst incident I have witnessed is when Cavuto was railing on the subject,
which seems to be his favorite whipping post recently. Cavuto was going on and
on about how the country was paying 4 billion a day just in interest on our
debt. He would then of course come around to blaming SS/Medicare as the main
problems for this.
As I was watching I got thinking that number just does not sound right. So
I did a little figuring and found what he was really saying was we were adding
4 billion a day to the deficit. The interest we are paying on that debt is less
than a quarter of that. So I zipped off an email pointing out the number was
wrong. Yet for the rest of the day and the next he continued to say the same
wrong thing. In fact, once he had someone on one of his many shows who pointed
out the same thing I had emailed, saying the number was wrong and things were
not that bad and he was giving the deficit number not the interest payment
number. Cavuto finally gave in on that point, yet later on he was right back
to telling the lie.
I know this is getting kind of long, but you need to understand what is going
on here. One of the main ways this country has been funding its runaway deficit
spending is with the overpayments to SS - those payments that were supposed to
be in a "lockbox" and only available to fund future retireees. Remember that
lie, in this case told by a friend of the little people democrat? As I told
you last time those overpayments amounted currently to 2.1 trillion dollars.
The current need to keep SS in the black for this budget year is 45 billion,
a very small portion of the 2.1 trillion. But it is not like the 2.1 trillion
is in a bank savings account where you can go in and withdraw 45 billion. No.
It has all been used to buy treasury bonds to cover years and years of deficits.
So, since we are still running deficits, to the tune of well over 1.5 trillion
dollars, if SS cashes in some bonds that will go straight to the national debt
since there are no free dollars with which to pay them off.
So the answer? Raise the income some that is subject to the SS/Medicare tax
and raise the age before retirement. I will just leave you with this: The
cap currently is 106,800 which equals a SS/Medicare tax of 16,233 dollars.
They are complaing the current income limit only covers 80% of all earned
incomes and that the historical level has been a number that covers 90%. So,
that is the number they want to move towards. A number that will once again
have millions paying in hundreds of billions extra funds not currently needed
by SS which will then allow the extra funds to buy more treasury bonds to cover
more debt. And the lie that these extra funds are to cover future retirees
will continue even though we all know, because of the current situation, these
funds will never be allowed to be accessed.
Also remember - all these excess funds come from the bottom 80 or 90% of wage
earners. The top 10 to 20% dollars earned paid almost none of it. So, when
Albert Pujols gets his 30 million a year salary he will pay a whopping
16,233 dollars in SS/Medicare tax - less than a tenth of a percent. So while all
us normal people pay 15.2 percent on every dollar...multi millionaire Pujols
pays .06%. That same normal person earning 106,800 pays the top fed and SS
taxes which equals 35 + 15.2 = 50.2%. Millionaire Pujols pays 35 + .06 = 35.06%
Do you hear any of this on any network or newspaper anywhere?? NOOOO.
Miscellaneous Links - who knows what you will find here..have fun
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Put in the Auburn Store
---------Well, Until next weekend, I hope you enjoyed your time...BELOW THE FOLD
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