Monday, April 15, 2013

"Hi....I'm from the government and I'm here to help", or "Bend over and feel the love"

Imagine for a minute you decided you wanted a new computer, but you didn't want to go into debt for it.  Then you heard of a merchant who would sell you one on an old-fashioned layaway plan....you paid monthly, and when you'd paid in full, you could go and pick up your purchase.  It was sale priced, so you jumped at it.



This was the prize you were promised.

After working hard day after day, looking at the picture of your new computer stuck to your refrigerator door with a little magnet, waiting for the day when you could get your hands on it, you go to the store to claim your hard earned prize, and this is what they handed you....


Then they tell you they miscalculated....they couldn't deliver on that new computer after all.  Their projections were way off, they were operating in the red, costs were up, revenues were down, times were tough.  Never mind what they promised, but this was all you were going to get.  Sorry.

This is essentially what is threatening to happen with Social Security.  Most Republicans and more than a few Democrats have decided that "entitlements" must be cut if we're ever to have a balanced budget, or even a manageable deficit.  It seems the politicians have over-promised.  *shock!*

Only one little problem....people PAID into Social Security all their working lives in order to have that little pot of money waiting for them when they retired.  It's THEIR money!  Anything they could put aside over and above Social Security was great, but at the very least they had their Social Security waiting for them.   Now the gubment is considering taking at least some of it away.

"Entitlement" means they've already paid for it and they are entitled to receive it.  IMO, at this point it's a right, not a privilege.

This might be a bit more palatable if they had scrapped the entire tax code and put in a new one that treated everyone equally, but they didn't.  There are still subsidies and loopholes sprinkled throughout the old code, robbing the gubment of revenues it needs to keep above water.  And now they want to change the Social Security rules in the middle of the game to make up for their wild promises elsewhere.

Loopholes and subsidies are not paid for in advance.  They are pure and simple freebies to the recipients.  They are not entitled to them.

So people who are "entitled" to something are (maybe) not going to get it, while people who are NOT entitled to something can still count on getting theirs.

I could not in my wildest dream imagine a more dishonorable idea.  Considering it's coming from Congress I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Oh....and Happy Tax Day.  :)

S


12 comments:

  1. I've never expected to get anything out of Social Security. I figured by the time I get to be 65 A) It'll be bankrupt and/or B) The retirement age will have gone up and also very likely C) I'll probably be dead by then.

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    1. Yet they're still taking your money evey payday.

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    2. Yup, and they're still paying it out to my mom, so it all evens out.

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  2. Scott, are they cutting SS or are they cutting the way they figure the rate of inflation and the yearly adjustment? I haven't really followed closely.

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    1. You are correct, Joe. As I understand it they will use a new COLA method that will not keep up with real inflation, which to me means, over time, a cut. Notice they (Congress) will still use the old COLA method when figuring THEIR pensions. This is just another example of what I mean by not treating everyone the same.

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  3. I'm am going to guess they are not changing their (Congress) health care plan either.

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  4. Here's the thing. Social security is NOT part of the budget. It's paid into a special account that beneficiaries are paid from. The problem is that Bush and his buddies appropriated SS money to pay for their dirty little war so now SS is having to come out of the general gov't budget. The politicians don't bother to tell you that.

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  5. Your point, as always, is well made. I for one am not counting on Social Security.

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  6. The thing is that there are ways to help fix Social Security. A few things CAN be done...like eliminating the cap at which social security taxes stop or slowly raising the age for benefits.

    Unfortunately, politicians aren't into "fixing" things.

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  7. We have compulsory superannuation schemes here and they've been phasing out pensions for years.

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