Social Security crunch coming fast

Social Security crunch coming fast

articles.moneycentral.msn.com

Given that so few people really understand the Ponzi nature of the current Social Security financing scheme -- created in 1983.............
"Perhaps as early as this year, Social Security, at $680 billion the nation's biggest social program, will be transformed from an operation that's helped finance the rest of the government for 25 years into a cash drain that will need money from the Treasury. In other words, a bailout."

(visit the link for the full news article)


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So we all know the precarious state of the economy, and we know that this Healthcare Bill is impossible to fund, and we hear about taking money from Medicare, or making new taxes to support it, but we cannot even support our current programs.

Social Security has been in trouble for a long while, but the current unemployment rate and falling dollar has really put the last nail in the coffin. Social Security will certainly fail, and it is only a matter of when?

There is just no way that this administration can continue to print money to bail us out of the hole we are in. They keep digging and digging, but the hole keeps getting deeper!

There are several threads with very real and current threats concerning the possibility of an upcoming bank holiday, and the introduction of the Amero. There are threads about Martial Law, a Nuke in DC, Swine Flu, and forced Vaccinations.

Lets add the very real, and accelerating threat of losing Social Security to the stew! Let that boil awhile and see how it changes the flavor of things!

articles.moneycentral.msn.com (visit the link for the full news article)

Social Security never should have began and should have been killed off long ago.

It's supposed to be a temporary assitance. SS is supposed to be welfare and unemployment.

Somehow, no doubt due to the boundless short-sightedness and stupidity of the lowest common denominator, SS has morphed into a retirement plan for people. Only a moron would assume and expect to use SS in such a way. Not one of us should ever expect SS. Getting SS means something is wrong and you need to fix it.

If SS remained with its intended usage it wouldnt be a bankrupt money pit. But if it werent a bankrupt money pit Congress would just be "borrowing" from it to fund other atrocities.

I think SS's transition from "there when you need it" to "everyone's moving to Mexico on it" is a fine example of a democracy failing when the population figures out it can vote itself the treasury. The worst part is everyone knows it's a bad idea and everyone sees what happens when you vote this way but apparently way too many people will still pull that lever in favor of personal gain over national economic stability. Even if that personal gain is pennies on the dollar. Monumental stupidity.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere

If SS remained with its intended usage it wouldnt be a bankrupt money pit. But if it werent a bankrupt money pit Congress would just be "borrowing" from it to fund other atrocities.

SS was the very definition of a Ponzi Scheme from the start, so it was one of the worst ideas our government has ever enacted, and you are absolutely correct that, if it had continued to be solvent, Congress would have raped it and applied the funds elsewhere anyway!!

Now, that we have a large part of the population dependent on it, we are in a tight spot! It is another one of these "too big to fail" enterprises that has to be propped up by the ever-shrinking work force and middle class slave!

reply to post by thisguyrighthere

Social Security never should have began and should have been killed off long ago.

14.1 What was the original intent of Social Security?

The original intent of Social Security was to provide a monthly benefit for workers who retired at age 65 financed by contributions these workers made over their career. Source

In other words it was MY pension plan that was robbed by the politicians to buy votes from the lazy leeches!

Corporations now longer keep workers for twenty to thirty years, heck every company I worked for is no longer in existence. The banksters collapsed the housing market so much of the money older people had as equity in their homes is gone and the bank closings and stock market slump killed those investment vehicles too.

In other words the Baby Boomers just got not one but several rugs pulled out from under them! The US government is sitting on a powder keg with over 13% of the population at retirement age. A population of Vietnam vets.

Social Security should have been abolished a LONG time ago along with all the other socialist nanny state programs created by FDR and LBJ to force people into dependence on big and overbearing government. All of FDR's programs had one purpose; the increase the power of the government. They did jack sheet to fix the depression, WWII ended the depression because everyone was either sent to the factories to aid the war effort or conscripted into the military.



Is their anyway I can opt out of SS? I would rather keep the money they steal from my paycheck and put it into my savings account or spend it on something worthwhile. Im 21 and as it is, SS will be long gone by the time I am 65 so why should I be forced to put money into something that I won't be able to receive?

[edit on 17-8-2009 by ChrisF231]

reply to post by crimvelvet

The US government is sitting on a powder keg with over 13% of the population at retirement age. A population of Vietnam vets.

One of the many Powder Kegs they have created and stacked up waiting for the right spark. Most days now I feel like Yosemite Sam running up and down the steps blowing out matches when Bugs Bunny throws them into the Powder Room!!

I hate to be one of the fear-mongers, but I really don't see any solutions to our current scenarios! It is going to take a Credit Erasing World War, or an all out Revolution and government replacement to bail out the future of this nation! No amount of taxing and cutting can make up the huge deficits in every aspect of the government!

reply to post by ChrisF231

Is their anyway I can opt out of SS? I would rather keep the money they steal from my paycheck and put it into my savings account or spend it on something worthwhile. Im 21 and as it is, SS will be long gone by the time I am 65 so why should I be forced to put money into something that I won't be able to receive?

YES! There is a way, but I have never found an attorney willing to do it! Railroad employees do not participate in Social Security, because the Railroads have their own benefit package that preempts the Social Security one. I have also heard of suing for your right to not participate in the program. I have known of one person that worked for a company that was exempt from the withholding, but I never could get into contact with that person to find out the details.

As far as I know the plan participation is voluntary, but the system is such that only an experienced tax attorney or SS representative can navigate their way out of it!

reply to post by getreadyalready

Correct, I believe some state and local government employees (I think in Florida and NJ) are also exempt from SS participation as they have their own systems like the RR employees as you mentioned.

reply to post by ChrisF231


I just went and looked at my paystub to be certain, and SS and Medicare are both withheld from my State of Florida paycheck!

The state does have a pretty good Pension program, so I don't see why we are paying into SS. It seems redundant?

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
Social Security never should have began and should have been killed off long ago.

It's supposed to be a temporary assitance. SS is supposed to be welfare and unemployment.

Somehow, no doubt due to the boundless short-sightedness and stupidity of the lowest common denominator, SS has morphed into a retirement plan for people.

I'm having to claim UK SS despite recently graduating. But I have never ever viewed it as a way of life that some of my contemporaries have, I was taught that it's there solely as a safety-net and is still my intent to only use it as such. The only way out of the mess is to re-introduce means-testing. Redistribute the funds for programmes aimed at those who are willing to get on up out of a predicament, but just need a hand up NOT a hand-out ..a subtle but important difference in attitude toward the services available.

My qualifications are in architecture yet the construction market has tanked with the economic crunch and competition for jobs is fierce to say the least, but I am very willing to apply the skills gained during my training, and whilst a claimant, help others below me on the social ladder.

"The lord helps those who help themselves" ...as I was taught

The term 'Social Security' can be looked at another way...as in the very real meaning of 'security'

What would happen if tomorrow, the SS system was stopped and the millions who have become dependant on it for daily life are suddenly faced with zero-income?

Crime figures would rocket as those who had a lifeline suddenly had it cut and turn to robbery and pilliage to survive...think of SS as a leash around the neck of the wolf, keeping it from baying at your door!

Originally posted by Taikonaut
The term 'Social Security' can be looked at another way...as in the very real meaning of 'security'

What would happen if tomorrow, the SS system was stopped and the millions who have become dependant on it for daily life are suddenly faced with zero-income?

Crime figures would rocket as those who had a lifeline suddenly had it cut and turn to robbery and pilliage to survive...think of SS as a leash around the neck of the wolf, keeping it from baying at your door!

This is exactly the problem!! It is a good observation, and it is the source of the "powderkeg!" If SS were to fail at this point, a large portion of society would be in trouble, and would probably turn to violence! Either against the government, or against the society for shear survival!

In addition to those who would turn to violence out of necessity, we would have a very large group of people near retirement that have spent a lifetime paying into the program for nothing. They would probably turn to violence as well, because they would want some resolution to their plight!

Then, you have all the other festering groups that are disgruntled with the economy, and the government, and the legal system, and they would join the fight out of principle!

I think that even rumors of SS failing in the short-term, could be catastrophic for the US!

So far, Social Security has been nothing but another rob the taxpayer trick. I paid in for 34 years but became disabled 2 years ago with Guillane-Barre. I was self-employed and would much prefer to be working rather than sitting around the house all day.
I applied over a year and a half ago and have yet to even get a hearing. If I weren't married I would be homeless or dead.
I know of people that get disability for depression, social manias and others that needed it once but are able to work now but refuse to give up their monthly checks.
With my luck by the time I get a hearing they will impose a moratorium on new claims.

For all the worthless things george bush did. He did also want to allow people to invest their own money from ss, instead of having it be under govt control.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


Get an advocate or an attorney to walk you through the process. You will be approved in weeks with the right assistance, but you will languish for years without it!

Goodluck with your Guillan-Barre, my wife had it during highschool, and she fully recovered, but it took a couple of years of therapy and a lot of pain and medicine. Now she has Celiac's Disease which may or may not be related, but she is doing well on a wheat-free diet!

SS is definitely a scam, and what's worse is that people like you have a real need for it, but it has been so poorly managed that you will have trouble ever getting the benefits, if the program survives at all!

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
So far, Social Security has been nothing but another rob the taxpayer trick. I paid in for 34 years but became disabled 2 years ago with Guillane-Barre. I was self-employed and would much prefer to be working rather than sitting around the house all day.
I applied over a year and a half ago and have yet to even get a hearing. If I weren't married I would be homeless or dead.
I know of people that get disability for depression, social manias and others that needed it once but are able to work now but refuse to give up their monthly checks.
With my luck by the time I get a hearing they will impose a moratorium on new claims.

It took me over 2 years to get disability and a few lawyers. Having a disease that turns your spine into a bamboo pole does not feel good. It's called Ankylosing Spondylitis. I had to live with my mother for those 2 years without a dime. If I did not have that support I to would have been homeless, in a shelter, and maybe even starving. Those who can not help themselves really do need the help. If we are to call ourselves civilized anyway. It's no fun being in pain on a daily basis. Living on what little social security I do get also means I'm house bound. I can't afford to go out and eat a dinner. The last time I ate out was years ago and that was paid for by my father. I'm just thankful I have a roof over my head and food on the table. If I was in good health I would be working my ass off. I was instilled with a good work ethic but that doesn't help much when your in the shape I'm in. If push comes to shove then I will work but I will also need some serious pain medication in order to fight off the pain that will intensify. I would trade my situation in any day for someone who has no pain and can work.

reply to post by getreadyalready


What? There's another government giveaway, intended solely to bind a beholden constituency to the status quo, that is running out of OUR money?

Next, you'll tell me that the federal Medicare, welfare and education programs need more money to deliver less service than was promised!

Can't we just give the feds MORE of YOUR MONEY to make everything better?

Won't the government take care of everyone as long as the "rich" (i.e., everyone but 'me') still have money in their bank accounts?

deny ignorance

jw

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
So far, Social Security has been nothing but another rob the taxpayer trick.
...

I applied over a year and a half ago and have yet to even get a hearing.
...

I can empathize. By coincidence, I am working today to assist an ex-relative to retain disability benefits from a carrier/employer.

Although the carrier, employer and doctors (3 of them) all agreed in April, he was "disabled," because of an adjuster's decision, he is no longer disabled.

Since when does a bureaucrat diagnose? How do they escape liability for wrongful termination or denial of benefits?

You do not let them! Although I could earn one, I am charging no fee. This is insurance and bureaucracy run amok!

Now, because of what the adjuster says, the employer want to terminate a 36-year, highly-rated, employee. Forget the Doctors' opinions, or the previous ins. co. and employer decisions. The CLAIMS MANAGER has the final (until today) say!

This should be criminal.

jw

reply to post by cloakndagger

I feel for you Cloakdagger. My brother has a slight case of AS and he caught it early and is still able to work. I'm on serious pain meds and have become opiate tolerant. 360mg of morphine a day and I'm still hurting - it's ridiculous.
I got a lawyer 10 months ago who specializes in disablility cases and I'm still waiting. Bitch of it is I've seen a national calamity coming for a long time and have spent 20 years preparing. but now I'm not physically able to do much. let's hope all the gloom and doomers are wrong about this fall but I'm one of them. lol.
Good luck and I wish healing thoughts for you. It will all turn out right in the end somehow, just keep the faith.