Social Security- its about ime

Coming partly from what people call a “socialist country” I can honestly say that it would be about time for America to join in with the rest of the developed countries. Social Security goes beyond the actual money, it goes beyond capitalism, and it’s simply is a question of what is right, wrong and ethical. It will show a country that is based on individualism that during a time of recession and severe economical crisis, we all must buckle down and do this together. Social Security is a countries way of showing its population that the government cares, they want to increase production from healthy people and that we are all in the same boat. I can not stand to see elderly people not being able to afford medical bills- its just a sign of disrespect for people that have given up their whole lives to be part of a work force that has made America what it is now.

It’s time to get over the Bush administration, stop thinking that socialism is communism and start getting real.

5th Grade Grammar Quiz

http://www.eduplace.com/cgi-bin/hme-quiz-directions.cgi?Grade=5&Unit=7&Topic-Adverbs+and+Prepositions

A system to help failing to help

On August 14, 1935 President Roosevelt became the first to look after the elderly with the signing of the Social Security Act.  Social Security was first created to limit what is seen as the ‘dangers’ in modern American life… according to Wikipedia.  This is a pretty good description, seeing it is supposed to be beneficial for: unemployment benefits, assistance for needy families, Medicare, Medicaid, State Children’s Health Insurance Program, Supplemental Security Income, and Federal Old-Age, survivors, and disability insurance.  Over time provisions have been made to the act to include all of these benefits.  So, since 1935, taxes have been deducted from pay rolls and put into these funds.  This makes social security the biggest governmental program in the world.

As the biggest governmental program in the world, though, comes a lot of controversy to this program.  The money put into Social Security the federal government has used for other programs.  The program is adding to the dollars of our nation’s budget.  These are not benefits that will be helping the young people now when they need their social security.  Many can say that they are being taxed and losing money that they will never be able to use or see.  As a system that is supposed to help the needy, it may not be doing that.  As a young adult, the future of social security is a concern.  I know that my grandmother and others I know collecting social security could not survive without it, and for that I am a firm believer in social security.  But I also do not enjoy losing money from my paychecks to a program that may cease to exist and/or fail to help me when I may be in need for the income when I am older.  Maybe by being privatized to let individuals invest in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds in to attain higher rates of return on their payroll taxes could be the answer.  I am not sure- I just know that something should be changed.

Social Security – Who should pay

Socialization is a sticky subject. Obviously there is a lot of good that can come out of helping the needy. Social security is a program that does just that. The problem is that the system was messed up from the beginning. When introduced in 1939, social security provided many hard-up Americans with the means to push forward. The burden was to be placed on the income of future Americans and their hard work, but nothing was built into the system that allowed for inflation in life expectancy!

On the other hand, there is a problem with the American Welfare system as well. Many believe that providing underprivileged individuals with welfare money discourages them from being a productive member of society. Hard working Americans are then taxed to provide for those on social security and those on welfare.

The solution is simple. Legalize marijuana and use the taxes from the sales to pay for those on welfare. On the other side, increase the tax on generic prescription drugs and use that money to overhaul the deficit in social security.

-Ben

Social Security: Raise the Age

Social Security is in trouble.  Projections suggest the system’s bankruptcy is imminent, and politicians and economists are clamoring for a solution.  The most popular (and hotly contested) suggestion is to privatize Social Security.  The argument in favor of privatization is the possibility of opening up new funds for economic investment, which would greatly benefit Social Security and the way by which it is funded.

But that doesn’t get at the root of the problem.  When Social Security was created over 70 years ago to support dependent people, life expectancy was 12 years above age 65, the age at which American seniors would begin to receive benefits.  That was in 1935.

Life expectancy today pushes over 80 years old.  For dependent American seniors to receive approximately 12 years of benefits, Social Security disbursements should begin at at least age 70, if not 75.  Americans today can work far longer than Americans in 1935 could.  Jobs available to seniors extend far beyond the implied manual labor of the earlier century, and a person’s ability to work after the current age of retirement reduces their dependency on a “safety-net” government system like Social Security.

Future of Social Security

Social Security is a mammoth of a federal program that unfortunately isn’t doing so hot right now.

 

Experts have estimated that the current social security program as it stands right now will soon run out. This is a very scary reality as our generation, may well not have any semblance of social security in our old age and when we retire. This is especially alarming considering that it is our generation that is paying the bulk for social security right now and will continue for many more years.

 

The primary reason for this shortage in social security is the “baby boom” generation that are beginning to, if have not already begun to retire. The enormous amount of people in that particular generation is straining the system.

 

And therein lies the problem. How do we fix or at least reform this system that is so large and intricate. We have bypassed the question of if it needs fixing to the fact that it does. The fact that we are paying into a system that may not be there for us to take advantage of is very distressing.

 

In terms of solutions, it seems as if no one solution will completely work. Privatization is being offered as a solution that may work that frankly I think has a lot of merit. That being said, however, it may worth trying to raise the age that these benefits take effect is higher than what it currently is. Furthermore, it may be more cost effective for the federal government to offer incentives for people to continue working instead of retiring. Additionally, it may also come to a point in which (at least for the “baby boom” generation) they receive a proportionally lower amount because there just isn’t that much money in the system in people benefiting from the system.

 

It is going to take an overhaul to mend the system, but these ideas offered are a start.

Sebastian Weeks

Social Security in our country

1935. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt introduced the idea of “Social Security” as a part of his New Deal program. It was created to protect the elderly, the poor, and even the unemployed at the time of the Great Depression. Today, the term refers to the benefits for retirement, disability, survivorship, and death. Lately, or more as since Ford was in office, there’s been great debate over social security privatization as a major political issue.

So what happens when our money runs out? This is the simplest question that Americans are asking everyday. The system is currently a mess. The baby boomers are one of the biggest generations in our history. They are now starting to receive this pension and it’s hard to believe that will be enough left by the time my generation can receive it.

Plus, you have to keep in mind the controversial issue that plagued the recent presidential elections, the problem with immigration. There’s millions of illegal aliens in our country that aren’t paying taxes since they’re technically not citizens. That’s so much money that could be benefitting the Social Security pot. Social Security isn’t just a problem in itself, you see. There’s more factors that go into why our government is worrying so much about this issue.

Where do we go from here? It’s the toughest question facing anyone. No one knows what will happen in the future. But we certainly can hope for the best. With the recession, there’s no way to raise taxes in order to collect more funds for Social Security. We need good leadership to bring our country up to the top and resolve these issues we’re facing. I hope Obama and the next few we elect will be able to help us with this.

-Gabby Ingersoll

Social Security

Ah, social security.  Is it just me or are you equally annoyed when you hear social security being brought up.  Social security is crashing and there is nothing I can do about it.  Money is stolen from my check to be put towards social security when I won’t be getting any…  Of course, my hope is that I can make enough where I am not reliant on a check from the government (but a little extra money never hurt). Regardless of what I want, the system is fucked up.  The increase in funds we need is negligible when you take into account the amount we are spending in Iraq, which pisses me off even more.  Sometimes you just wanna slap somebody until they get it and they can recognize  and diagnose the problem.

Everything else I say about this topic would be retarded… I don’t follow politics or political issues that closely so much of what I say would be unfounded in fact and be based on subjective opinion.

later dudes and dudettes.

morgan

Social Security

Although many people believe that Social Security funds will run out in several decades, sources such as CNN and MSNBC have noted that America could see these funds vanish between 2015-2020. So the question arises, why put hard-earned money towards something we may not ever get to see? One viewpoint is that social security should boil down to a very personal matter, as opposed to something everyone works for communally. Individuals would put a given amount of their paychecks into their own bank account, which assures that they will eventually see that build up of cash in the future. But even though this sounds great initially, it is not what America was built on. Striving for the good of the masses. If the social security system worked in this way, our elderly as well as our disabled would not receive nearly as many profitable benefits and help towards simply surviving. The problem itself seems like a double-edged sword at this point in time, with both sides brutally affecting one specific group of citizens.

 

- Graham Wheeler

Why Privatization Might Not Be Such a Bad Thing…

Under FDR’s New Deal, the Social Security Act was intended to protect the elderly, the poor, and the unemployed from going without, as so many had done during the Great Depression. Every month a percentage of a person’s monthly income goes to the government with hopes that they will be able to collect the insurance when they retire. But the very system that was intended to help Americans has failed them. In fact, it has become nothing more than a giant Ponzi scheme (think Bernie Madoff). The 2009 Social Security Trustees Report indicates Social Security will be running on deficit in 2016, which begs the question, where has the taxpayer money gone? Social Security is a “pay as you go” system where the government takes an individual’s tax money to give it to another social security recipient with hopes that the original payer will be able to reap the same benefits. Good deal, eh? Not so much. The federal government has used this money ($180 billion of it in 2008 alone) on other programs, causing intragovernmental debt and making it nearly impossible to pay off because soon the baby boomer generation will want to collect. The government has essentially spent more than it intends to take in and give to those who actually contributed to the system.

The massive income-redistribution Ponzi scheme that is Social Security needs to be abolished and Americans should turn to investing their retirement in personal accounts instead. Many presidents have proposed privatizing Social Security, the last being George Bush, but fear tactics have run rampant, shaping public opinion to believe that Americans will be put at risk. The fact of the matter is that the under the Constitution, our government has no fundamental obligation to manage citizens’ finances. Critics of privatization insist that putting money in a private account is too risky because the market fluctuates but long term retirement investing is very safe. The only other options would be to raise taxes or cut benefits but they still don’t address the main problem, that American workers have no control over their money after its taken out of their paycheck by the government.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Republican, but Social Security should be a nonpartisan issue that unites all Americans. It’s far too risky to wait for Social Security money to run out. I don’t want to stick around and watch what happens in 2016, I’ll be too busy compensating my retirement savings for the Social Security money I’ll never see.

-Amanda Pelletier