The Case for Fixing Social Security Right Now

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Update: President Obama spent 1.4 Billion in taxpayer dollars in 2011 to finance his family vacations and personal security - that's 5.6 Billion in 4 years. It would only take 6.2 billion to pay thousands of Social Security recipients their EARNED benefits by repealing the unfair WEP and GPO laws. Our legislators say they can't afford to pay seniors what they have EARNED but none of them are complaining about Obama having spent nearly that much on himself during his presidency.

Joeb of MI 1:56AM October 04, 2012

Sorry, the time for simple fixing of Social Security is over. At least Paul Ryan tried.
Why is that?
Most People think there is a Social Security Trust Fund that actually has money in it to pay out 100% of benefits until 2033. The reality is the only thing in that account is a lot of IOUs put there by the US Treasury since it takes any excess money collected that is not paid out each month and puts it in the general fund and spends every last penny on current Government expenses. Want proof? Go to the ssa.gov website and check it out under fund questions and answers. Yes, the value of those IOUs is backed by the full faith and credit of the US Treasury.
Any idea on how long it will take the Treasury to pay these IOUs back? What is that amount, something like just over 2 trillion?

konrad anderson of CA 5:16AM August 29, 2012

This is not about retiring, it is about children who recieve benefits from deceased parents. So many who recieve them never see any benefit from the money. I don't understand that when a child recieves surivers benefits from a deceased parent, it be required to be put in an account for the child and only used for or be savings account for the child when the chidl reaches the age of 18. I know about a situation personally, that the money a child has been getting since her father passed away in December of 2010, the money went to paying rent and etc, because her mother and her mothers boyfriend/finace/babydaddy neither one was employeed. She didn't know that she got money after her father had passed away.This money is for the child and her needs, not the whole family. If I was in charge of her money I would put it in the bank and keep out a certain amount for her to have things she wanted and the rest would be there for her when she turned 18, to use at her choice. The system needs to be more for the child, instead of the childs mother to have access to the childs money.

Judy Taylor of MO 5:18PM August 17, 2012

How about a class action lawsuit against Congressional leaders for not doing the job we're paying them to do?

Mike B. of IL 1:30PM May 06, 2012

The 2012 Trustee's Report details the exhaustion of trust fund reserves in 2033, three years earlier than projected last year (http://1.usa.gov/Kg5KuF). Yes, it is true that even after the fund is exhausted Social Security will be able to pay 75% of benefits, but how is being able to meet only three quarters of its obligations acceptable?
Clearly Philip is right and something needs to be done and reform must take place: either by raising the wage cap, by increasing the retirement age to keep pace with longevity, by means-testing and eliminating benefits for very high income seniors, or by some combination of these proposals.

Scott @ Engage America of NY 4:25PM May 01, 2012

Administration has found reasons for funds to be pulled away from Social Security toward other ends, but this may prove dangerous for a number of reasons. The borrowing that has taken place from Social Security has created a substantial government liability to the fund. Many point to the enormous general deficits and argue, justifiably, that the federal government may not be able to honor its commitment to Social Security.
Even if the government is able to repay what it has borrowed, however, this does not address the true danger. As the government continues to shift money between the two funds, the delineation between Social Security and other programs will become muddled and distort funding priorities. This was not the intention of the creators of Social Security when they made provision for a distinct trust fund and a separate revenue form in the payroll tax.
Should the government wish to continue to ignore the intended autonomy of the Social Security trust fund, it should take this policy stance to its natural end: Social Security revenues and liabilities should be pooled into the general budget (http://bit.ly/y5hMvv).

Carly EngageAmerica of MI 2:58PM May 01, 2012

The people who issue a nation’s currency ultimately control the nation and its wealth.
Because the Federal Reserve banking system, bankers and bond traders have appropriated the creation of America’s money, issuing Federal Reserve money as our national currency, their actions resulting in a huge national debt; we liberal need to propose a competing money system and a comprehensive budget, for not only closing the deficit and also paying down the national debt.
This liberal plan does not raise taxes, cut programs nor require austerity measures. It is in strict compliance with the Constitution. The monetary system operated for more than a century, and has been well tested, successfully standing numerous challenges in the supreme court the court’s findings have been embraced by, none other than, the Heritage Foundation. Best of all, this system was started by a Republican administration.
• Pay all federal employees, elected officials and people in the military along with all federal benefit like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Veteran payments, plus any block grants to states in American money issued directly by the Treasury Department.
• Use the budget surplus this action would produce to begin buying back government bonds at discounted book value.
• Sharply limit inflation resulting from this action by increasing the fractional reserve requirement of commercial banks, up to 10% per year, until reaching 100% reserve requirements for all lending.
• Make the U.S. treasury the lender of last resort, converting the Federal Reserve to a true agency of the government, retaining its role as a clearing house for checks and a monitor of the commercial banking.
• Use the interest from government lending as revenue paid into the treasury.
• After the nation debt is paid off, greatly reduce or eliminate most federal taxes

bill parks of MD 9:59PM April 29, 2012

The simplest and fairest way to fix Social Security is the solution that is never mentioned in the media or by any leaders in congress. Simply put the answer is to means test Social Security. The Democrats rave about how unfair the tax system is, and how it benefits the rich, but then they turn right around and subsidize medical care for the rich in the form of medicare and give the rich the fattest of Social Security checks. It recently made me laugh as the billionaire Turner declared he wanted his Social Security check. The media never mentions this option because most of them would be affected by it. The rich do not want to lose Social Security because it is there pocket money. The money they travel the world with and send their grandkids to ivy league colleges with. Rich now the biggest outrage in this country is that those making less than 100,000 pay for Social Security yet it is the rich that benefit the most from the program.

Stephen A. Howell of AR 3:53PM April 29, 2012

PRESSURE CONGRESS TO REPEAL THE UNFAIR WEP & GPO SOCIAL SECURITY LAWS!
For nearly 30 years, the United States government has been cheating millions of Social Security recipients out of up to 60% of their EARNED benefits due to the unfair WEP and GPO laws. Bills to repeal these laws that have thrown many seniors into complete poverty are never even voted on by our cowardly congress. That's because whenever a bill to repeal these unfair laws they are tied up in committee and never see the light of day. Our congress people whine that they can't live on their $174,000 per year salaries, yet they have no trouble sleeping at nights when America's senior citizens have been forced into poverty because of this nation's corrupt Social Security laws. We can’t afford to pay seniors the benefits that they actually earned but we can afford to give away billions to foreign banks, and squander over FOUR TRILLION DOLLARS in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Joeb of MI 11:48AM April 27, 2012