I told my son this afternoon, "you will never receive Social Security"

ThomWV

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Wed Dec-15-10 05:29 PM
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I told my son this afternoon, "you will never receive Social Security"

In anticipation of today's vote in the Senate I told my son, this afternoon, that there wasn't much chance he would ever receive Social Security in his life. He knew it, or at least he's believed it, for a long time. Today was the first day I honestly considered it to be likely.

I told him why too, and in want to repeat it now - just so everyone understands what at least one part of this very very bad tax cut deal means to the Social Security System. Many of you already understand what I'm about to say, and probably understand it better than I do to tell the truth. Please chime in with any corrections or to fix anything I've misrepresented, because I don't want to get this wrong.

I told my son, in case he didn't know it, that he paid in a little over 7% of his salary (wages and estimated tips in his case) and his employer pays in a matching amount and those contributions constitute his Social Security account. We both know that current workers pay for current retirees, but when they determine each individual's amount due its based on their earnings record and so both accounts are true.

Now, for a year, the Republicans want the contribution reduced by 2%, and that will be instantly felt and go to those who need it a lot. What could be wrong with that -other that it makes worse the problematic funding of the SSS in the out years that everyone is already complaining about and demanding a solution for. Think about it, everyone says Social Security is going broke and the solution is to reduce the pay-in to Social Security by 2% for every working individual. How backwards assed a solution could possibly be conceived?

But that is not the worst of it. Recognizing that this will cause a short-fall in SSS pay-ins the Republicans want the amount repaid out of General Funds. Either way the taxpayer pays. So although its convoluted one has to say, well, what's so bad about that? The problem is this. First of all if the SSS contribution is lowered while Democrats still hold power it will never - repeat - never be raised backup by the Republican Congress to follow - and means the death of Social Security is hastened considerably unless money comes from General Fund to save it - and that, my good ladies and gentlemen, turns Social Security into a Welfare Program. The moment it becomes a welfare program the Republicans will go after it like a rat after cheese.

And there is this too. Why in all of the fires of hell would the Democrats pass this now? Two weeks from now the Republicans will be in charge and they can concoct and pass any shitty legislation they want and they can back date it and send refunds to millionaires too if they want. There is no reason at all for Democrats to pass this trash, but they will. And two years from now, when the truth will mean even less than it does now, one thing will be heard at every campaign event - Republicans will say quite truthfully that it was not they, a Republican Congress, that continued the Bush Tax Cuts that killed the economy, it was the Democrats.

What on earth is wrong with us. We kill the best program in Government and concurrently shoot ourselves in the foot for the next election. How much longer can I continue to call myself a Democrat with this sort of foolishness going on?