GOP Divided Over Social Security Cuts

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I live in a SE Asian country where its cheap yet we still have internet and cable tv. Elderly people are respecated and the best part? (For guys anyway) Its socially acceptable for a 60-something year old man, or even older, to live with, marry, or have a one-night stand with a woman less than half his age. So men, if you can still perform and like warm weather, come on over.

Joe P. 3:11AM August 09, 2011

I get sooooo tired of Social Security and Medicare being call and "entitlement". The only way it's an entitlement is if you haven't paid into the program. Now for some, yes it is an entitlement, but not for the seniors who've paid into it their entire working lives.

Bill of TX 3:05PM July 25, 2011

i.am shocked,just shocked, that the republicans would want to cut benefits .just so the wealthy donn;t have to pay their fair share.

bruce b of NV 9:41PM July 24, 2011

I agree that we should not unnecessarily mess with Social Security, but we need to be realistic. We can’t just leave it alone, or it will go broke. Some kind of means test will have to be applied.
If you worked for 45 years, at a job that paid more than the max salary taxed for Social Security, you would have paid around $134K into the system, not counting your employers contribution.
If you paid in at that rate, and retired at 66 in 2011, you would receive the max payout of about $2366 per month. That means that you would be paid back in a little over 4.7 years.
Remember, for the first 12 years, you paid in less than $1000 per year. Only in the last 10 years did you pay $5K or more.

Sarge of CA 4:25PM July 23, 2011

I get so tired of young people thinking we are getting a free ride.
If you had $200k plus taken from you, would you stand for it,or fight to get it back?.
Well that's what I paid in, and I want my benefits or my money back.
Cut me a check, you do it so well for all but the one's WHO pay your salaries, and you have the gall, to CUT ours?.
Shame on you.
In nearly every country on the globe, the elderly are held in HIGH esteem, and are cared for.
NOT in America, the elderly are deemed worthless, used up, and a burden to be done away with.
What if we had felt that way about our parents, and theirs before them?.
God forbid we throw those that built America under the bus for fiat paper.

Terry S of TX 11:11AM July 23, 2011

I help with my aunt and my father. Both are on Medicare. She gets around $1000 per month and spends about $110 for her medicare premium and another couple hundred for co-pays on her medicines. That leaves her less that $700 a month to live on.
My father gets $1600 per month. Pays $110 per month for medicare premium, $480 per month co-pays on medicine and medical equipment, $600-$800 per month for private nursing care---because he gets so much (HA)!
Thanks to the federal government, it is easier for the elderly to move into nursing homes and have the states pick-up the tab!!
Gee, does that not make you want to work 50 years and pay into an "entitlement" program each week, make mortgage payments for 30 years, and pay property taxes every year you have the house to eventually hand it over to the state and move into a nursing home so you be broke and can die a miserable death??!!!??
We take such good care of our hard-working elderly!!!

mother of MO 10:06AM July 23, 2011

Leave social security and medicare alone or feel the wrath of the people at voting time. We will not forget the idiots who try to save money on the backs of the old.

Barry8 of TX 7:08AM July 23, 2011

Since when did mandatory deductions from your paycheck for over 30+ years become entitlements? Do you think the IRS thinks your tax deductions are entitlements? Does your insurance companies think those deductions for health and life insurance are entitlements? Wake up, Americans!! Social Security has NEVER been an entitlement!
Mandatory deductions from your paycheck for Social Security and Medicare are not now, have never been and never will be entitlements. SEC rules and regulations state that mandatory deductions from your paycheck entitles YOU a 'good faith' return on your investments into SS & Medicare. Otherwise, Social Security and Medicare become the largest 'Ponzi Scheme' in history. Bigger than Bernie Madoff, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Bros. The Senate/Congress/the House are using these "buzz words" to legitimatize their illegal reformation of these programs. THEY goofed up the money, not us. Now they want to make it look as if we were never to have expected to receive any of these monies in return for those mandatory deductions. Rise up, Citizens of America, who have worked and earned these mandatory returns. Call your Senators, Congresspersons and representatives; email your voices and statements to their websites. Let them know that 'We are mad as Hell and we won't take this anymore." Leave Social Security and medicare alone. Fix the broken programs that send monies, jobs and defense programs overseas. Bring our taxpaying dollars back to America to take care of Americans!

chgowhtlady of IL 8:50PM July 22, 2011