can someone explain taxes/budget/expenses

[spence]

I think it's mostly about increasing costs and demographic changes. Also, as the funds excess shrinks they can't benefit from interest income.

SS can be fixed, it's Medicare that's the biggest problem.

-spence

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by spence

it's Medicare that's the biggest problem.

-spence

I agree it is a big one. Being on Medicare myself along with many of my friends I see
unsustainable medicine costs due to all the new procedures that are available and
the fact that Docs need to protect themselves from lawsuits.

In addition many Docs are dropping out of Medicare because of the hassles
and fee cuts..
My wife needs a new hip, bone on bone, and the specialist we have opted
out of Medicare because of the hassles. Wait till more government HC.

Therefore his treatments comes out of my pocket, $200 first visit, $75 each
visit after that and $5000 for the surgery.
IMHO he deserves it because he's one of the best, highly trained and has a heavy overhead.
Ya get what you pay for and the Govt is out of dough let alone what it will need as
the Baby Boomers enter the program.

Don't worry though, the $600 Billion saved in Medicare fraud will pay for them.

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by spence

SS can be fixed, it's Medicare that's the biggest problem.
-spence

Absolutely.
Everyone 45-55, bump it 1 or two years later.
everyone under 45, SS now starts at 70.

I can't fathom how either side can't come up with a rational, commonsense way to work on SS

Medicare is the looming claymore w/ the boomer generation reaching AARP status...

Defense. Lets get out of Afganastan and Iraq before we think about anything else.

[Fly Rod]

Everybody wants to pick on Social Security

Lets start with the fraud on welfare and unemployment, needs to be revampt.

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by Fly Rod

Everybody wants to pick on Social Security

Lets start with the fraud on welfare and unemployment, needs to be revampt.

look at the charts in the wiki link i posted. Almost all of the money the govt takes in goes to SS or Medicare. fixing anything else is small change.

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

look at the charts in the wiki link i posted. Almost all of the money the govt takes in goes to SS or Medicare. fixing anything else is small change.

43% is not 'almost all'
it is huge though, and needs to be dealt with, as does defense.

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

43% is not 'almost all'
it is huge though, and needs to be dealt with, as does defense.

it is when you subtract the things you cannot control - interest and mandatory

[Fly Rod]

43%! Well then instead of hiring 5,000 more IRS people lets hire 1000 and asign them to go after medicade fraud of which is a few billion.

[scottw]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

43% is not 'almost all'
it is huge though, and needs to be dealt with, as does defense.

just an update

Sacred Cows: Why Lawmakers Are Stuck on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security
ABC News Feb. 17, 2011

With all the finger-pointing in Washington this week over the need to reform Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, one thing is clear: it might just be Americans' very sense of entitlement to those programs that's the biggest barrier to getting something done.


The three programs have ballooned to 57 percent of the government budget this year and are widely cited as the most significant contributors to the federal deficit, something nearly all Americans want to see aggressively brought under control.

[buckman]

Originally Posted by scottw

just an update

Sacred Cows: Why Lawmakers Are Stuck on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security
ABC News Feb. 17, 2011

With all the finger-pointing in Washington this week over the need to reform Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, one thing is clear: it might just be Americans' very sense of entitlement to those programs that's the biggest barrier to getting something done.


The three programs have ballooned to 57 percent of the government budget this year and are widely cited as the most significant contributors to the federal deficit, something nearly all Americans want to see aggressively brought under control.

"Americans' very sense of entitlement to those programs that's the biggest barrier to getting something done"
Imagine the nerve of feeling you should get something you paid for your whole working life.

[striperman36]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

look at the charts in the wiki link i posted. Almost all of the money the govt takes in goes to SS or Medicare. fixing anything else is small change.

Jim, but they are stealing the SS Surplus

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by Fly Rod

Everybody wants to pick on Social Security

The problem with the Social Security Trust Fund is the government has been borrowing trillions of dollars
from it since 1942 with the borrowing sky rocketingfrom the 70's on.
There are no $$$ left because of it, a Ponzi scheme for sure.

[spence]

Originally Posted by justplugit

The problem with the Social Security Trust Fund is the government has been borrowing trillions of dollars
from it since 1942 with the borrowing sky rocketingfrom the 70's on.
There are no $$$ left because of it, a Ponzi scheme for sure.

Not sure that's really accurate. There's a lot of money in the trust on paper, but it's invested in the US and shows up as debt.

The problem isn't as much SS as it is overall fiscal health.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[albin35]

The opposite of progress
Is Congress.

Vote E'm Out.

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by spence

Not sure that's really accurate. There's a lot of money in the trust on paper, but it's invested in the US and shows up as debt.


Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

It's basically robbing Peter to pay Paul. Paul spent his money and now Peter
is broke.

If the money was kept in a "locked box" from the beginning Peter would still have his money
and Paul would have to live within his means.

The true reason for our financial condition is, we don't live
within our means.

[scottw]

Originally Posted by spence

Not sure that's really accurate. There's a lot of money in the trust on paper, but it's invested in the US and shows up as debt.

The problem isn't as much SS as it is overall fiscal health.(it's an unsustainable redistribution scheme..a disaster)Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

there was a lot of money in the Bernie Maidoff trust on paper but it was mostly "invested"(spent)......the "Trust Fund" was invested into the massive expansion of the welfare state and the Great Society(aka Road to Ruin)...that "investment" should really pay off


[QUOTE=spence;837478] I guess it depends on if you believe in the full faith and credit of the USA. Good thing we have cash-flow.


"cash flow"

printing record amounts of money that does not exist
borrowing record amounts to pay for things that you can never afford

"cash flow"

Bernie Maidoff had "cash flow"

let the nationwide dependent class protests begin

[spence]

That's a pretty lame response.

[QUOTE=scottw;837544]there was a lot of money in the Bernie Maidoff trust on paper but it was mostly "invested"(spent)......the "Trust Fund" was invested into the massive expansion of the welfare state and the Great Society(aka Road to Ruin)...that "investment" should really pay off

Originally Posted by spence

I guess it depends on if you believe in the full faith and credit of the USA. Good thing we have cash-flow.


"cash flow"

printing record amounts of money that does not exist
borrowing record amounts to pay for things that you can never afford

"cash flow"

Bernie Maidoff had "cash flow"

let the nationwide dependent class protests begin

Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[buckman]

Originally Posted by spence

Not sure that's really accurate. There's a lot of money in the trust on paper, but it's invested in the US and shows up as debt.

The problem isn't as much SS as it is overall fiscal health.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

IOU's are not real money. That's what replaced the $$$ they stole.

Brian's right. Unemployment is another area of wasted $$$. 99 weeks and running......

There's a huge sign on a little store here in Cambridge. I'll take a picture for you. It says " WICs checks accepted , play the lottery".

I went in...No baby fornula for sale....surprise!!!!

[scottw]

this says it all

The Social Security Trust Fund is the means by which the federal government of the United States accounts for excess paid-in contributions from workers and employers to the Social Security system that are not required to fund current benefit payments to retirees, survivors, and the disabled or to pay administrative expenses.

The trust fund contains the securities that will be redeemed to make benefit payments in the future when contributions derived from payroll taxes and self-employment contributions no longer are sufficient to fully fund then-current benefit payments. (The controversy over its meaningfulness is a topic of the sustainability of the unified Federal budget.)

Paid-in contributions that exceed the amount required to fully fund current payments to beneficiaries are invested in securities issued by the federal government. The securities issued under this scheme constitute the assets of the Social Security Trust Fund. Because under current federal law these securities represent future obligations that must be repaid, the federal government includes these securities within the overall national debt.[1] The portion of the national debt that is not considered "publicly held" represents the obligations incurred by the government to itself, the bulk of which consists of the government's obligations to the Social Security Trust Fund.

the term "scheme" is appropriate


just think about the masses that will mobilize in 2102 to save their entitlements!!!!

[scottw]

Originally Posted by buckman

IOU's are not real money. That's what replaced the $$$ they stole.

Brian's right. Unemployment is another area of wasted $$$. 99 weeks and running......

There's a huge sign on a little store here in Cambridge. I'll take a picture for you. It says " WICs checks accepted , play the lottery".

I went in...No baby fornula for sale....surprise!!!!

I agree w/ Bryan as well, these programs should only serve those with demonstrated need and the limits need to be changed drastically...unfortunately, to politicians.... demonstrated need, is the need to pile bodies into these programs to create greater dependence to ensure their own or their party's viability down the road....government measures the success of their social programs strictly by the size of their budgets and the number of people..legal or illegal that are dependent on them....

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by spence

Not sure that's really accurate. There's a lot of money in the trust on paper, but it's invested in the US and shows up as debt.

The problem isn't as much SS as it is overall fiscal health.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

It depends on if you lump it all in one bucket, and thats why i started this post, its very misleading.
If this was a business and you had a few different product lines, your overall financial picture would include the revenue and expense from all products. However if you wanted to fix the problems you focus on the products that are not selling or too expensive to produce. Looking at the US financial picture, its SS and Medicare. The data doenst show this but I bet if you took all the income (payroll taxes) we pay for SS and Medicare away and the programs. We could lower our fed taxes and still pay all of the other pieces of the pie. The problem is not govt expense and income tax (which is what 99% of the bitching is), the problem is that those 2 programs are not sustaiinable - the income is not covering the expense.