The fact that the U.S. government owes the SS trust fund is not the fault of the design or management of the Social Security system. The trust fund must be made whole. It did not cause the deficit. It's only crime was investing its funds in government bonds.

 

politics

It does not matter what party says what (All politicians LIE!!!) That is what they do. The part i don't understand is when are the American people going to wise up and say ENOUGH. You have the power to impeach,recall or otherwise remove the liers but you don't and that is why you get what you deserve because YOU (the you is everybody) condone it by letting it continue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You are correct that it was not caused by the design or management of the SS system, it was caused by irresponsible fiscal policies in the legislative branch and endorsed by a ill advised executive branch.

The point that the trust fund must be made whole is not quite as simple as you seem to think. The moneys borrowed from the trust fund have been spent, seemingly without effecting the balance of the federal budget. To make the fund whole, the treasury must redeem the IOUs that it issued, this means that the treasury will need to borrow money to do it.

Now the impact of the raids on the trust fund will show up on the balance sheet as debt, some $3 trillion dollars will now show up as an increase in the deficit.

This is not likely to happen.

 

The irresponsible fiscal policies were promoted by the Reagan campaign of 1980 which made the dishonest claim that tax cuts generated more tax revenue than tax increases, so that it was possible to cut taxes, raise defense spending, and balance the budget by 1983 "if not sooner," by only cutting "waste, fraud, abuse." When Reagan said "waste, fraud, and abuse," most whites heard, "welfare programs for black people."

At any rate, it was not possible. "Supply side economics" was a squalid scam that has distorted political discussions since then. The enduring legacy of Ronald Reagan is the delusion that the American people can have the government they want without paying for it. Reagan was called "the great communicator." Unfortunately, much of what he communicated consisted of delusions most Americans wanted to believe in.

 

Relevance?

 

Perhaps not, but the answer is clearly not to use the deficit as an excuse to gut Social Security. To do that, they have to perpetuate the lie that Social Security "caused" the deficit.

 

A quick recap

http://manwiththemuckrake.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/the-grinch-stole-the-social-security-trust-fund/

 

Ah, so that was your angle, I don't recall making that accusation.

As of today the SS fiscal condition is not contributing to the deficit, any impact on the deficit will come from the treasury needing to pay the IOUs to the SS trust fund. That day is coming sooner than was expected, when this happens, the deficit will indeed be affected.

Interesting tidbit, starting on 1/1/11, 10,000 people per day are reaching 65 years of age, this will continue for 19 years. The obligation of SS is roughly $42,000 per year to each, actuary charts project an average of 20 years life for each of them, making SS trust fund growth rate, by the 75 year rule, at $4.2 billion dollars a day, for 19 years.

 

What's your source for that $42,000/year figure? The last I checked, SS recipients received an average of about $1,150 a month, or less than $14,000/year.

 

Sorry, I transposed the numbers, $24,000 /year is the high average for someone retiring at 66 in 2011, averaged over the expected benefit period..

 

The real John Boehner?

Matt Taibbi: The Crying Shame of John Boehner

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/matt-taibbi-the-crying-shame-of-john-boehner-20110105

 

In that case, your calculation is completely wrong, even with your correction.

 

You are correct.

 

Overview of The Spending Reduction Act of 2011






-FY 2011 CR Amendment: Replace the spending levels in the FY 2011 continuing resolution (CR) with non-defense, non-homeland security, non-veterans spending at FY 2008 levels. The legislation will further prohibit any FY 2011 funding from being used to carry out any provision of the Democrat government takeover of health care, or to defend the health care law against any lawsuit challenging any provision of the act. $80 billion savings.

-Discretionary Spending Limit, FY 2012-2021: Eliminate automatic increases for inflation from CBO baseline projections for future discretionary appropriations. Further, impose discretionary spending limits through 2021 at 2006 levels on the non-defense portion of the discretionary budget. $2.29 trillion savings over ten years.

-Federal Workforce Reforms: Eliminate automatic pay increases for civilian federal workers for five years. Additionally, cut the civilian workforce by a total of 15 percent through attrition. Allow the hiring of only one new worker for every two workers who leave federal employment until the reduction target has been met. (Savings included in above discretionary savings figure).

- "Stimulus" Repeal: Eliminate all remaining "stimulus" funding. $45 billion total savings.
- Eliminate federal control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. $30 billion total savings.

- Repeal the Medicaid FMAP increase in the "State Bailout" (Senate amendments to S. 1586). $16.1 billion total savings.
-More than 100 specific program eliminations and spending reductions listed below: $330 billion savings over ten years (included in above discretionary savings figure).

Additional Program Eliminations/Spending Reforms: - Corporation for Public Broadcasting Subsidy. $445 million annual savings.

Read more: http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2...s-eye-25-trillion-spending-cuts#ixzz1BcgH5ccR
​

 

Overview of GOP/Tea Party hypocrisy

Corporate contributions have surged for new Republican leaders in House

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/21/AR2011012103187.html?hpid=topnews

 

So do you think that the folks with money are stupid? The guys that they had bought and paid for, are losing clout. Now they are attempting to buy the new guys, let's wait and see how this pans out for them.

 

So,,,what's the problem?

 

Alright, the GOP nearly swept the House of Representatives in the last election and now that they are in power what problem can we expect them to tackle after passing their symbolic health care reform repeal? Will if be the deficit they were all screaming about? How about the economy and jobs? Those are a couple of really serious problems we are facing. Or what about the fact we're still fighting terrorists on two fronts, and appear to be having an increase in domestic terrorist attacks. Those are also very troubling problems demanding our immediate attention.

So which one of those pressing problems with the new GOP/TeaParty congress tackle next. You probably guessed it; none of the above.

No, instead of trying to actually solve problems the GOP will go onto trying to further restrict abortion in the US or make it illegal entirely if possible. Oh, yeah, nothing like staying stuck 40 years in the past to move the nation forward.

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-pn-abortion-wars-20110123,0,2249973.story

 

And you are surprised by this?

Most every candidate made it a part of their campaign, they actually are trying to keep their promises, even if YOU disagree with them.

 

A republican house is your only problem here, nothing more than that. We had these problems for over 2 years now,,,,,WHAT DID THE DEMOCRATS DO,,, when they had a ''super majority''. Nothing, they did nothing, unemployment went higher, our national debt got higher and a polarized nation. The GOP will address the debt with some cuts and will influence business to create jobs and goods with incentives.