Spinoff: Social Security Problems and Solutions

[pnewton]

I am going to spin this answer off from a news thread, so as not to wander too far from the strip club, metaphorically speaking of course.

The post quoted came from this thread.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=641303

But of course, they are no different from welfare in that they: take from people who work and give to people who don’t work, discourage work effort and are abused by their recipients. If they are just insurance policies there would be no need for the government to provide them.

There is no CD for any of these programs, the government has no legal or moral obligation to continue them. If congress had a spine it would end them immediately because we cannot afford them and there is no reason for them in the first place.

Even social security and medicare? People on these programs paid into them their entire working lives. What you propose is no different than a corporation just deciding they can no longer afford to pay their retirees and just discontinuing those payments. Would you favor that corporations follow suit?

 

[pnewton]

Ditto, from above.

A safety net? Yes. A hammock? No.

Ishii

You do realize, I hope, just how little SS income is, I presume. It is subsistence only. If a hammock is involved, it is because a bed would be too expensive.

I do think that the retirement age is a legitimate issue. With greater longevity, actuary tables decrease the amount that should be paid out, below subsistence, Thus, when SS payments try to keep up with inflation, the system goes bankrupt. Moving the age up gradual, and thus further up the actuary table is probably the only solution.

 

[stinkcat_14]

Even social security and medicare? People on these programs paid into them their entire working lives. What you propose is no different than a corporation just deciding they can no longer afford to pay their retirees and just discontinuing those payments. Would you favor that corporations follow suit?

Part of the problem is that too people have an entitlement mentality. I have never seen a recipient of government benefits feel as if he was not entitled to what he was getting. This is the case for farmers receiving price supports, seniors receiving social security and medicare, and members of occupations who use government regulations to keep out competition.

The difference between the corporation and SS is that at least with the corporation the former employees have a contract whereas there is no contract with SS. You could cut SS spending without creating too much disruption by doing a few simple things. You could say to people who are currently 61 that they will not receive benefits till 70 unless they are disabled. That way they can keep their jobs and SS payments will decrease over time. Then you can start to phase it out for all except those who truly need it.

 

[ProVobis]

FWIW,

Social Security Timeline (as laid out by the Saturday Evening Post)

1889 - European Inspiration. German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck passes an old-age insurance program that becomes a model for Britain and other European nations.
1933 - An Early American Plan. Retired doctor Francis E. Townsend devises a program - funded by a two percent national sales tax - that would pay every American over 60 a pension of $200 a month that had to be spent within 30 days.
1934 - Talks Grow Serious. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins heads a committee that recommends a federal social insurance plan, which includes unemployment insurance and “old-age” security.
1934 - Protection for All. Louisianna Governor Huey P. Long launches the Share Our Wealth Society which calls on the government to guarantee every family an annual income of at least $2,000.
1935 - The Beginning. Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act on August 14. Payroll taxes are first collected in 1937.
1940 - Monthly Payments Start. On January 31, Ida May Fuller becomes the first to receive a monthly check. The amount is $22.54.
1941 - The Guarantee. President Roosevelt is quoted as saying: “We put those payroll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions. With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my Social Security program.”
1944 - The Program Grows. Mary Thompson, a widow, is the one millionth Social Security recipient.
1950 - Inflation Duly Noted. Social Security adds a cost of living adjustment.
1956 - Help for the Disabled. Social Security is amended to provide monthly benefits to disabled workers ages 50 to 64 and for disabled adult children.
1961 - An Early Retirement Option. President Kennedy signs an amendment permitting men to retire at 62 with a reduced benefit. (Women had been given this right in 1956.)
1972 - A Better Inflation Plan. President Nixon signs an amendment to make cost of living adjustments automatic.
1977 - First Fears of Insolvency. Legislation is enacted to raise taxes and scale back benefits.
1983 - Money Worries Continue. President Reagan signs a law taxing benefits. The retirement age is raised from 65 to 67, but not until 2000.
1993 - Still More Concerns. The taxable portion of benefits is raised from 50 percent to 85 percent.
2000 - Staying on the Job. President Clinton signs a bill eliminating the Retirement Earnings Test, allowing seniors who continue working to receive full benefits.
2005 - Privatization Effort. After winning re-election, President Bush uses political capital to push for partial privatization - a program in which individuals would manage their own accounts. In the face of resistance from seniors and their advocacy groups, the plan slowly dies.
2010 - A New Insolvency Threat. The U.S. Deficit Commission, set up by President Obama, recommends raising the retirement age to 68 and reducing the annual cost of living increases. The plan is not adopted.

 

[pnewton]

Part of the problem is that too people have an entitlement mentality.

I do not doubt that, but I do believe that those who paid into SS are entitled to receive SS. I do not think this is at all the same thing as those who will not work believing they are entitled to be taken care of.

I think you are right about raising the age limit, but it can not be done all at once. It is high time to start phasing it in, and at the same time to leave room at the top to raise the level based on increase in average life span.