social security

[somerfrost]

Originally Posted by joeydb

This is the United States, and socialism sucks. We don't want it. You want socialism? Go to Cuba, or China, or anywhere "red" enough.

Socialism is akin to a bunch of bums saying that they want more of someone else's money -- somebody who worked for it. Just like that mugger waiting around the next dark alley.

Really, I didn't realize that I was living in the US. Who are "we"? It's interesting that you can define Socialism in such simplistic terms. Sounds like something directly from the era of Joe McCarthy,

[AeWingnut]

Originally Posted by somerfrost

Really, I didn't realize that I was living in the US. Who are "we"? It's interesting that you can define Socialism in such simplistic terms. Sounds like something directly from the era of Joe McCarthy,

and Joe McCarthy was right

[Danzig]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...031004683.html


Everyone knows that the U.S. budget is being devoured by entitlements. Everyone also knows that of the Big Three - Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security - Social Security is the most solvable.

Back-of-an-envelope solvable: Raise the retirement age, tweak the indexing formula (from wage inflation to price inflation) and means-test so that Warren Buffett's check gets redirected to a senior in need.

The relative ease of the fix is what makes the Obama administration's Social Security strategy so shocking. The new line from the White House is: no need to fix it because there is no problem. As Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew wrote in USA Today just a few weeks ago, the trust fund is solvent until 2037. Therefore, Social Security is now off the table in debt-reduction talks.


well, now isn't that awesome. politics as usual. obama doesn't want him or his party to be the 'bad guy' and make changes some won't find palatable...a hot button issue, so let's avoid it altogether. ignore it, it won't go away. but let's just stick our heads in the sand, and let someone worry about it down the road. keep hearing how it's such an easy fix, but....if it's so effing easy, why isn't it being done?

[somerfrost]

Sooner or later, social security and medicare will need adjustments...no way to balance the budget without that. The question will be, do we attack the poor with cuts they cannot afford or do we make adjustments to the money the rich receive. Raising the retirement age would help some but eventually it will come down to that simple question...

[Danzig]

well, it sure would be nice if those we elected to change the current way of doing things would actually...oh, i don't know...do some changing. but no, business as usual. borrow today, spend yesterday, worry about the debt in another generation.