Ron DeSantis expects shortened lifespans to shore up Social Security

[Nevilledog]

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/649413-ron-desantis-expects-shortened-lifespans-to-shore-up-social-security/

'I mean, it's been a pretty steep decline.'

People may be dying earlier in recent years, but one ancillary benefit of that is it lessens the burden on entitlements for senior citizens.

That’s the take of presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, who told a crowd in New Hampshire that shorter lifespans will give Social Security a longer runway without raising eligibility ages.

“What I don’t think people are acknowledging the way they should is that life expectancy in this country is declining. And so, you know, we used to think it was just gonna keep going up. I mean, it’s been a pretty steep decline. So I don’t see how you raise it if life expectancy is declining,” DeSantis said in Windham.

DeSantis said that the decrease in lifespans isn’t “just from COVID,” but is “from a lot of other things,” including “deaths of despair, overdoses” and “other things, that have happened that I think the government hasn’t been willing to really be honest about.”

*snip*


Quite the platform to run on...Republicans will shorten your life, vote for us!

[struggle4progress]

1. "Shoot people on Fifth Avenue to save Social Security!"

[Give Peace A Chance]

30. Or they could just raise / eliminate the cap.

DeSatan is such a ghoul.

[sop]

48. Exactly.

The current cap on earnings subject to SS taxes is now $168K. Eliminating the cap would make SS solvent till 2046.

[former9thward]

60. Where is the political will power by either party in Congress to raise the cap?

I have seen no one in leadership call for it. I have never heard Biden call for it.

[sop]

62. There's no political will to eliminate the cap and raise taxes on top earners, just a lot of talk about "fixing" SS.

They've been raising the cap incrementally every year since the '70s, indexed on rising wages, but it's not going to be enough. At some point both parties will have to come together and actually solve the problem.

The current SS payroll tax rate is 6.2% up to the cap. Problem is SS payroll taxes are highly regressive, hitting the working poor and middle class the hardest. The more one makes over the cap, the less one pays as a percentage of their total earnings. The SS cap needs to be eliminated, and the tax rate should be made progressive.

[Shermann]

2. Who knew the Grim Reaper's robe had a silver lining?? nt

[mzmolly]

3. Well there is deregulation. Who needs clean air and water?

eom

[rurallib]

4. Why not just shoot us all when we get to 65?

I am sure his base would approve.

[erronis]

24. Wow! That would wipe out The Villages and many other retirement communities

filled with maggats.

Set up a Soylent Green plant at the gates as GrumpyDuck below suggests. Feed the crap to the youngsters in Disneyworld....

[Axelrods_Typewriter]

36. I've seen videos of The Villages.

I'd rather live in hell than live in The Villages. It reminds me of a cross between a Trump rally and Leave it to Beaver. Blech.

[angrychair]

28. Well there is always

The "Logan's Run" scenario. Just shape a society where where we vaporize people when they turn 45. No need for Social Security at all. Problem fixed. /S

[slightlv]

42. I was just sitting here, trying to remember

the name of that movie/series. Thank you for saving me hours of fruitless recall! (LOL)

[pandr32]

5. Now there's a plan!

Kill off seniors so there aren't many on Social Security. Genius Republican idea.

[Irish_Dem]

18. Yep. We are just useless eaters taking up space and cash.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. De Santis is a fine one to talk about honesty. Hides his own Covid stats, for starters. . . . nt

[grumpyduck]

7. Soylent Green, anyone?

[erronis]

25. You beat me to this one.

Not sure the retirement communities such as The Villages would put up with it, tho...

[slightlv]

43. There'd be a way they'd find to exclude

The Villages, to be sure. Way too many Republican old people there. They can't afford to lose those votes!

[EX500rider]

49. I'd say more like "Logan's Run"

?type=vertical

[BootinUp]

8. fuckin GREAT news, Ron. nt

[Qutzupalotl]

9. It's not just from COVID, it's also from lying about masks and vaccines.

I lowered life expectancy so I could say I have a plan to save Social Security. Vote for me.

[gulliver]

10. Here we go with innumeracy again (or duplicity or both)

The number that really counts is the number of workers per retiree.

If the life expectancy goes down due to the loss of younger people, that reduces the number of workers per retiree. The U.S. is going to need more young people, either by (for once) creating incentives for parenting or by immigration or both.

Here's one article, but they're all over the place.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2023/aging-america-retirees-workforce-economy/

[RandomNumbers]

16. Or maybe (!)

* change the funding formula

OR

* enhance the working experience for older, experienced skilled workers so that they work longer and defer collecting benefits.

(true I don't know if the second one really works because deferring benefits gets a higher payout)

One thing is for sure: the population number at least needs to be stabilized, and probably reduced. Infinite growth cannot be supported. As you point out, we will see a shrinking number of workers per potential retiree. Since infinite growth cannot be supported (common sense), we really need to figure out a way to make this okay. And not by just killing off older people by bad policies, as apparently DeSatan is okay with.

[gulliver]

20. Stable population would be good

Other factors left aside, a sustainable, equilibrium population would be good. Basically everything humans rely on is mass-producible, so it's not clear what the optimal population would be. In the long run it needs to be sustainable, that's all.

DeSantis isn't necessarily dumb. He's Yale/Harvard. He probably realizes that he's giving politically popular "reasons" (that don't hold up) to help him with Social Security recipients and near-retirees.

[onecaliberal]

11. They already killed a million people. There is a lot of illness right now with people

Getting COVID 3 or more times. Hell yes people are dying early. VERY early.

[nilram]

51. Yeah, no acknowledgment that repeat COVID infections increase other illnesses.

With no acknowledgement by media, politicians, the government. Heart attacks, stroke, cancers, immune disregulation, brain disease and more have been linked to COVID, but we still count them separately. The CDC has reset how far they look back for counting "excess deaths" so it overlaps with the start of the pandemic. Just today I saw a headline wondering why there's an increase in cancers among young people. When public figures die unexpectedly, there's no discussion of when they last had COVID. A little bit of coverage of a recent scientific paper that details these follow-on issues. I doubt that will go far, and hope I get proven wrong.

[nuxvomica]

12. A Blue Wave next year would reverse the decline

If Republicans are sidelined, the fundamental causes of income inequality, access to health care, and environmental safety can be addressed. Then lets worry about Social Security.

[Traildogbob]

13. Let's see that

Retired politicians die sooner to save our wasted taxes on them. Their Spouses too, being they keep getting our tax cash many years after their political spouse is gone. Melania will be on our cash for decades after Orange Jesus heads to hell.
Even the ones staying in office like Grassly, may not get years of entitlements, but they are wasting our taxes while still there. I mean, Newt the Hoot is on our payroll and his manikin Barbie will be on our dime after the Newt is gone. Oh what a beautiful thought. Newt in hell with Trump. Making America Better Again. Promises made.
How many years will DeSatan be sucking on the teet of Floridians after they get the fuck WOKE up?
Entitlements!

[tanyev]

14. Ron, you know that "benefit" includes losing lots of GOP voters, right?

[appleannie1]

15. Good. He can be the first to volunteer to help out.

[Irish_Dem]

17. The GOP must be thrilled at the 1 million covid deaths and all the gun deaths.

More money for the GOP to steal from US taxpayers.

[mopinko]

19. i was wondering when 1 of them was gonna say it out loud.

cuz u know they say it at the cocktail parties.

[lastlib]

21. Maybe that's why they were so adamantly against masks.......

They were **sincerely** trying to help out Social Security! I get it now!

(**SNORT!** RI-ighht.........)

[Blue Owl]

22. Only death can help the Pudding Goblin

Maybe Ron could start with his own?

[KentuckyWoman]

23. Help Save Social Security! - Die at 64.

The thing is, too many MAGAs are generally not likely to live long lives anyway. Just the bodily stress of being angry all the time will shorten life. Add obesity, smoking, daily drinking.... It makes total sense the "I got mine, screw you." crowd, that is likely to die younger anyway, will not care as much about social security and medicare.

[LiberalFighter]

26. He and his wife should be first.

[SarahD]

32. Yeah. Set the example.

See if others follow.

[moondust]

27. Billionaires must be so relieved!

Their drives to become trillionaires will not be hampered forever by harsh, debilitating taxes thanks to the Meatball.

[SCantiGOP]

29. GOP: I apologize

You had a brilliant plan all along. Enact policies on healthcare, pandemic response, climate change, abortion, etc., that roll back life expectancy to 19th Century levels and the Social Security funding problem magically disappears.
Why didn’t we think of the campaign slogan “You won’t need the money cause you’ll be dead”?

[snowybirdie]

31. He's such a tool

Anyone else bothered by seeing DieSantis and Casey constantly pulling their very young children on stage? Yesterday, his very young son, all dressed in a suit and tie, looked terrified!

[DFW]

33. Like I said.............

[Sneederbunk]

34. Speaking of shortened lifespans, DeSantis is term limited.

[retread]

46. Maybe he can work for Disney World. He's already got the correct footwear. (Apologies to Goofy)

?q=65&auto=format&w=2270&ar=2:1&fit=crop

[usaf-vet]

35. Greedy lying GOP. Let people die to solve their sky is falling view of Social Security.

RAISE the SS withholding with no upper limit for millionaires and billionaires.

They should be paying at the same rate as the average income earner.

This is another example of two sets of rules, laws, and benefits.

[Demnh2fl]

37. Hoping Ron's governorship is also declining

As a Florida resident I am hoping he will fizzle out soon. He has been a very destructive force in this state. I guess he forgot that there are quite a few retired people here. He sounds almost ghoulishly gleeful that his constituents are dying quicker. No wonder no one likes him.

[WarGamer]

38. what an idiot...

At least other politicians keep things like that to themselves.

[hay rick]

39. He's put his money where his mouth is.

Florida is one of ten states that has not accepted the ACA Medicaid expansion opportunity. DeSantis' Surgeon General was just called out for promoting vaccine misinformation. DeSantis is making Floridian's lives a little shorter and a whole nastier.

[Bo Zarts]

40. I thought at first that this was an article from The Onion ..

"Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die .."

Country Joe (McDonald) and the Fish

[flashman13]

41. This is so wrong. Congress needs to grow some and raise the maximum income

on which social security taxes are paid and poof - problem solved.

[Big Blue Marble]

44. Ron is just saying out loud what I assume is the opinion of many Repub leaders.

After all, he did say, in the early months of the pandemic that Florida was God's wait room.

Welcome to Florida, a great place to come die.

[surfered]

45. "Please die quickly "

It’s why the GOP opposed Obama Care and the expansion of Medicaid.

[Aristus]

47. Anyone care to shorten HIS lifespan for us?

n/t

[paleotn]

50. Ugh! Just raise the amount of income subject to SS. Problem solved. Reagan did it and bragged about it.

Ironic thing is, it's people most likely to vote for DeathSantis who are dying earlier. Careful what you wish for, Ron.

[Mariana]

57. Reagan also cut SS benefits - but only for younger people.

[muriel_volestrangler]

52. Fun though it is to bash him, he was advocating a policy most here would want - don't increase SS eligibility age

That's why he said "so I don’t see how you raise it if life expectancy is declining".

Now, you may not believe he'd leave it alone, as this person didn't in August:

"I heard a rumor that you want to increase the retirement age," one attendee said to the governor. "My dad died when he was 62 and didn't get the chance to use any of his Social Security, and he started working when he was 14. If you increase the retirement age, I don't want to die before I get the chance to reach it."

"It should reflect life expectancy, and what we've had in this country is a pretty significant decline in life expectancy," DeSantis responded. "Given those circumstances, to raise it would be cutting against where the demographics are going, so that's not gonna happen."

Douglas McCabe of Garner came to see DeSantis, but was dismayed enough at this answer that he won't be supporting him at the Iowa Caucuses in February. "I don't think he was being honest. I think when he's in there he's going to raise the retirement age. DeSantis has talked about raising that age (as a congressman).

https://globegazette.com/news/local/2024-campaign-ron-desantis-garner-pizza-ranch/article_e6aa4698-45b4-11ee-b5ae-9f63f2dd2b42.html

But everyone should be aware they're bashing him for saying why he doesn't want to raise the Social Security retirement age.

[OAITW r.2.0]

53. First, congrats on 100,000 posts!

That's a lotta words!

And I did pick-up on the crux of his point. But it still sounds like an incredibly dumb thing to say.

"Shorter life expentency will fix the SS problem." And his policies in Florida are leading the way! Wierd too that DeSantis would want to remind retirees - a significant economic/political block of citizens -that he's he's helping to make it happen.

[Mad_Machine76]

54. That's a lovely view of life

Just skips right over the declining life expectancy and not even talking about what we can do to improve life expectancy or figure out why exactly it’s happening. Just accepts that it’s just going to get worse.

[Hope22]

55. Great advertisement right there.

Couple that with our rising numbers on maternal mortality and infant mortality rates and we are number 1! Yea USA. Something to look forward to for everyone! We live in an upside down country!

[doc03]

56. That's the ticket kill us off before we can retire. nt

[Xolodno]

58. They'll do what they always do....

...adjust the retirement age on the next generation or two and push how everyone should wait to retire to get the maximum pay out and let the actuarial tables do their magic.

Create a sovereign wealth fund to supplement? No.

Allow people to have an easier system where they can supplement their retirement income with an account? No.

Require employers to increase contribution? No.

Raise the cap? No.

Those all require work or have no way where they can profit off of it.

[NowISeetheLight]

59. Great Plan

Slash Medicare, reduce Social Security so people can't buy food, reduce unions and worker protection, crash unions, remove government oversight of pollution and food safety.

Hey.... great plan! Everyone dies younger.

[BlueSpot]

61. Reminds me of this