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McCain says Social Security is a disgrace
crooksandliars.com — McCain is all upset how the young folks pay taxes so the older folks get social security -- he just forgot that is how the system is supposed to work!!!!
ileen4justice- 75 diggs
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- Mathieugothax, on 07/15/2008, -5/+21Everyday I come on Digg, McCain just looks more and more senile and due for "retirement" He's seriously an idiot, a puppet controled by corporations and it shows because he changes stances nearly everyday and he declares completly ridiculous things.
- roosevans, on 07/15/2008, -5/+5“On the privatization of accounts, which you just mentioned, I would like to respond to that. I want young workers to be able to, if they choose, to take part of their own money which is their taxes and put it in an account which has their name on it. Now, that’s a voluntary thing, it’s for younger people, it would not affect any present-day retirees or the system as necessary. So let’s describe it for what it is. They pay their taxes and right now their taxes are going to pay the retirement of present-day retirees. That’s why it’s broken, that’s why we can fix it.”
I am not a John McCain supporter but I think McCain has it right about the Social Security system. He envisions young people just entering the job market to save and pay for their own retirement with their own money, not someone else money in the "pyramid" like scheme that the current Social Security system operates under. His description of the Social Security system as a "disgrace", was a poor choice of words.- ileen4justice, on 07/15/2008, -3/+6When Social Security was created in 1935, President Roosevelt spoke of the three-legged stool for retirement security. It would include pensions, savings and Social Security. For most people, however, their main source of retirement income is Social Security.
For two-thirds of people receiving Social Security, the monthly check supplies 50% or more of their income. Among couples over 65, a whopping 91% have Social Security income, but only 42% have other retirement benefits.
Further, the social security trust fund takes in more than it pays out. Due to the Bush crime family's using the nation's credit card to run up a couple of trillion dollars' debt, the Bush crime family has gone into the trust fund to feed the deficit.
I suppose if you only thought of yourself and you had confidence that some private retirement fund would not lose the money you gave them you would want to privatize it. Social security is unabashedly a system that realizes not every elderly citizen (actually too many) have retirement money and actually live in dire poverty. One of our government's primary reasons for establishing this country was to benefit the general welfare of the people, not just the richest 1% of Americans. I respectfully disagree.
- ileen4justice, on 07/15/2008, -3/+6When Social Security was created in 1935, President Roosevelt spoke of the three-legged stool for retirement security. It would include pensions, savings and Social Security. For most people, however, their main source of retirement income is Social Security.
- jcm267, on 07/15/2008, -14/+6Buried as inaccurate for completely disingenuous (or stupid, take your pick) take on this from Crooks & Liars and Ileen4justice.
Social Security was set up at a time when people didn't live as long after retirement as they do now and the proportion of old people to younger people wasn't so high. This alone makes Social Security destined to fail in the future and when you take into consideration the fact that Congress has repeatedly raided Social Security over the years it's obvious that unless something drastic happens I am never going to get the Social Security benefit that I've been paying into. That is a ***** disgrace.- treehugger87, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2When Reagan worked with Democrats to revise social security in 1983, the system was shored up, but now it's in need of further reform. Bush's failed attempt to "privatize" social security were doomed from the start, and appear to simply be an attempt to get more money into the pockets of his corporate interests. You may be right that we won't see the benefit, and that would certainly be a disgrace, but in order for something drastic to happen the parties need to work together to fix the problem and leave partisan ideology out of it.
- rearlgrant, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2"As a result of these changes, particularly the tax increases, the Social Security system began to generate a large short-term surplus of funds, intended to cover the added retirement costs of the "baby boomers." Congress invested these surpluses into special series, non-marketable U.S. Treasury securities held by the Social Security Trust Fund. Under the law, the government bonds held by Social Security are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Because the government had adopted the unified budget during the Johnson administration, this surplus offsets the total fiscal debt, making it look much smaller. There has been significant disagreement over whether the Social Security Trust Fund has been saved, or has been used to finance other government programs and other tax cuts."
I didn't write it, but it's a fairly good summary of what was wrong with the '83 reforms.
- rearlgrant, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2"As a result of these changes, particularly the tax increases, the Social Security system began to generate a large short-term surplus of funds, intended to cover the added retirement costs of the "baby boomers." Congress invested these surpluses into special series, non-marketable U.S. Treasury securities held by the Social Security Trust Fund. Under the law, the government bonds held by Social Security are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Because the government had adopted the unified budget during the Johnson administration, this surplus offsets the total fiscal debt, making it look much smaller. There has been significant disagreement over whether the Social Security Trust Fund has been saved, or has been used to finance other government programs and other tax cuts."
- treehugger87, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2When Reagan worked with Democrats to revise social security in 1983, the system was shored up, but now it's in need of further reform. Bush's failed attempt to "privatize" social security were doomed from the start, and appear to simply be an attempt to get more money into the pockets of his corporate interests. You may be right that we won't see the benefit, and that would certainly be a disgrace, but in order for something drastic to happen the parties need to work together to fix the problem and leave partisan ideology out of it.
- Fangsinmybeard, on 07/15/2008, -3/+10McCain is learning how to sabotage his own campaign very effectively.
- chase001, on 07/15/2008, -1/+8Yea! Old men should get themselves a sugar momma like McSame and some lobbyists/prostitutes so they don't have to go on SS.
- jodimcmullen, on 07/15/2008, -1/+3Amazing.
- MiltonWaddams, on 07/16/2008, -0/+3The best part of this talk they didn't even include. The straight-talking, straight-shooting maverick said "I don't think it's fair, and I think it's terrible to ask people to pay into a system that they won't receive benefits from." Short of aliens coming and vaporizing Manhattan, there is absolutely no way that people paying SS today "won't receive benefits." It couldn't be easier to disprove this claim, but I haven't seen a single mainstream journalist point this out. Probably because they don't have to worry about retirement accounts.
- MarkEarhart, on 07/16/2008, -0/+6How do you fix it? Why you fool you take the funds back from politicians like yourself that have been robbing Social Security blind!!! Until someone comes up with a better solution, and as far as I'm concerned they can take their time while they bleed you bastards dry, Social Security is all that keeps some of us from starving!!!
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