Social Security to start cashing Uncle Sam's IOUs

[Harry Guerrilla]

Social Security to start cashing Uncle Sam's IOUs - Yahoo! News

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. – The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration.

It's time to start cashing them in.

Sounds like a good time to start tapping the nest egg. Too bad the federal government already spent that money over the years on other programs, preferring to borrow from Social Security rather than foreign creditors. In return, the Treasury Department issued a stack of IOUs — in the form of Treasury bonds — which are kept in a nondescript office building just down the street from Parkersburg's municipal offices.

Now the government will have to borrow even more money, much of it abroad, to start paying back the IOUs, and the timing couldn't be worse. The government is projected to post a record $1.5 trillion budget deficit this year, followed by trillion dollar deficits for years to come.

There is a lot more to read with this story.

We should have done something about this problem when we knew it was coming and we shouldn't be bothering with another program until this gets fixed.

 

[RightinNYC]

Don't you dare badmouth Social Security, it's the most beloved social program in all of history! Of course, that might be because it involved borrowing a few trillion from future generations, but that's just gobbledegook policy wonk bull****. :roll:

The sooner this cluster**** gets fixed the better.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

Don't you dare badmouth Social Security, it's the most beloved social program in all of history! Of course, that might be because it involved borrowing a few trillion from future generations, but that's just gobbledegook policy wonk bull****. :roll:

The sooner this cluster**** gets fixed the better.

It's still a lightning rod that no one wants to touch.

I wonder how long it will take before they actually do something.

 

[Erod]

It's still a lightning rod that no one wants to touch.

I wonder how long it will take before they actually do something.

There's no fix for this. It was inevitable. This is the biggest shell game going on in the world.

Problem is, if they stop making payments, it'll be the French Revolution all over again.

 

[Donc]

A lot of people getting ready to nuzzle up to the SS tit including myself, better fix this one promptly. The easiest way is to take the cap off. :2wave:

 

[washunut]

There's no fix for this. It was inevitable. This is the biggest shell game going on in the world.

Problem is, if they stop making payments, it'll be the French Revolution all over again.

There are a number of ways to fix it. Raise the age of elegibilty, take off the income cap, means test, invest in bonds that generate more than government bonds, change payouts based on current annuity tables etc.

 

[RightinNYC]

A lot of people getting ready to nuzzle up to the SS tit including myself, better fix this one promptly. The easiest way is to take the cap off. :2wave:

If benefits will remain indexed to payments, that won't fix anything. If they don't remain indexed to payments, then you're not "fixing Social Security," you're imposing an additional 12.4% federal income tax on incomes over $100k.

 

[Taylor]

A lot of people getting ready to nuzzle up to the SS tit including myself, better fix this one promptly. The easiest way is to take the cap off. :2wave:

A cut in benefits or higher retirement age seems more equitable. Let the boomers pay for the mess they created.

 

[jujuman13]

It's still a lightning rod that no one wants to touch.

I wonder how long it will take before they actually do something.

I rather imagine they will do what Socialists have always done with problems that are beyond their wit to solve.
It will be shelved.
At least until their Political opponents form the Government and become the majority in Congress, whereupon it will once again be dragged out into the open with maximum publicity.

It is a problem that has been caused by BOTH Political parties, it is a problem that must be solved by BOTH Political parties.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

I rather imagine they will do what Socialists have always done with problems that are beyond their wit to solve.
It will be shelved.
At least until their Political opponents form the Government and become the majority in Congress, whereupon it will once again be dragged out into the open with maximum publicity.

It is a problem that has been caused by BOTH Political parties, it is a problem that must be solved by BOTH Political parties.

Something tells me that is highly unlikely in the near future.

 

[rathi]

With modern medical technology, I'd say that working until 70 now is easier than working until 65 in the 30's. On the plus side, you can more easily appeal to both parties without raising taxes or cutting benefits.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

With modern medical technology, I'd say that working until 70 now is easier than working until 65 in the 30's. On the plus side, you can more easily appeal to both parties without raising taxes or cutting benefits.

yea but telling people that they have to wait an additional 3 years, while their similar counter parts are retiring at 67, doesn't make the elder kind happy.

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

yea but telling people that they have to wait an additional 3 years, while their similar counter parts are retiring at 67, doesn't make the elder kind happy.

Probably a damn good thing I have retirement plans that don't include SS. My retirement date isn't for another 26years and I'm sure by that time the damn retirement age will have been raised to 80. What's the point? I've paid into the SOB since I started working at 14, think I'll see any of my money in return? Hell no.

What may have helped, is paying those retirees benefits who actually PAID IN to the system. However many years they worked and contributed, that is how many years of benefits they receive. Although that's only a 'what if' scenario and too late anyway. IMHO, the damn thing should have never been a program to begin with.

 

[Ethereal]

Don't you dare badmouth Social Security, it's the most beloved social program in all of history! Of course, that might be because it involved borrowing a few trillion from future generations, but that's just gobbledegook policy wonk bull****. :roll:

The sooner this cluster**** gets fixed the better.

Our generation is screwed.

 

[Zyphlin]

If you want to talk about "Courage" in regards of taking up a portion of policy that no politician wants to touch, THIS would be it.

Its not "Courage" to deal with Health Care, politicians have happily waded into that a number of times and GIVING entitlements tends to prove beneficial in elections.

Courage would be tackling this Social Security issue which people on all sides recognize is completely and utterly broken and just getting worse and yet no politician wants to touch because its likely political suicide.

I'm not sure if we'll have any politician with such Courage anytime soon

 

[BWG]

Sounds like a good time to start tapping the nest egg. Too bad the federal government already spent that money over the years on other programs, preferring to borrow from Social Security rather than foreign creditors.

Great!! It's about time. For all those years the politicians have been using 'borrowed' SS money rather than raise taxes or cut spending. The cows have come home, the chickens have roosted and it's time to pay the piper.

I've paid into the SOB since I started working at 14, think I'll see any of my money in return? Hell no.

Yeah, it's sad isn't it?

I was told the same thing.....40 years ago...LOL

 

[Cold Highway]

Our generation is screwed.

Thats why we realized that SS isnt going to be there for us (if I make it that far). It why I have a 401k, a CD, a high interest savings account and I buy silver twice a month.

 

[Erod]

And if Obamacare gets passed, they'll be stealing even more SS money to apply to healthcare.

Ah, the slippery slope of socialism.

 

[Donc]

Probably a damn good thing I have retirement plans that don't include SS. My retirement date isn't for another 26years and I'm sure by that time the damn retirement age will have been raised to 80. What's the point? I've paid into the SOB since I started working at 14, think I'll see any of my money in return? Hell no.

What may have helped, is paying those retirees benefits who actually PAID IN to the system. However many years they worked and contributed, that is how many years of benefits they receive. Although that's only a 'what if' scenario and too late anyway. IMHO, the damn thing should have never been a program to begin with.

The new seventy in now eighty.:2wave:

 

[USA_1]

A cut in benefits or higher retirement age seems more equitable. Let the boomers pay for the mess they created.

The boomers were still in diapers when the mess was created.

 

[Renae]

The only real solution economically is to just announce SS is dead, sorry no more payments.

Of course, people would completely freak out at that. Despite teh fact that keeping this going is just going to destroy the country... "I want mines". We're the generation that's gonna get FUBAR'd by SS.

I say bring on the fall at this point. Those ****ing idiots in DC pass this monstrosity called "Healthcare Reform" and the USA will collapse financially. Greed, kills.

 

[Donc]

The only real solution economically is to just announce SS is dead, sorry no more payments.

Of course, people would completely freak out at that. Despite teh fact that keeping this going is just going to destroy the country... "I want mines". We're the generation that's gonna get FUBAR'd by SS.

I say bring on the fall at this point. Those ****ing idiots in DC pass this monstrosity called "Healthcare Reform" and the USA will collapse financially. Greed, kills.

With every post you make you confirm to the fence setters that you’re the biggest partisan hack on DP. Keep up the good work. :thumbs:

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

The boomers were still in diapers when the mess was created.

The problem is that they have had roughly 40 years to address this looming problem and they haven't.
In fact, if they tried to alter the program to reflect the true amount that it could afford to pay out, Boomers would be up in arms over it.

They are the biggest pander group right now and not a single political office holder wants to touch the program for fear of a backlash.

 

[Deuce]

The problem is that they have had roughly 40 years to address this looming problem and they haven't.
In fact, if they tried to alter the program to reflect the true amount that it could afford to pay out, Boomers would be up in arms over it.

They are the biggest pander group right now and not a single political office holder wants to touch the program for fear of a backlash.

Clearly all of this is Obama's fault.

 

[USA_1]

The problem is that they have had roughly 40 years to address this looming problem and they haven't.
In fact, if they tried to alter the program to reflect the true amount that it could afford to pay out, Boomers would be up in arms over it.

They are the biggest pander group right now and not a single political office holder wants to touch the program for fear of a backlash.

Boomers are just barely beginning to collect their SS benefits. It was the Greatest Generation that paid hardly anything into it yet have been collecting benefits for 40 years, much more than they paid into it. They have burned through all that money not the boomers. Try and cut their benefits and they will be the ones up in arms.

I know the democrats will never do anything about it but the republicans had 6 years to make some changes and totally blew their chance.