a) Social Security is "not a problem," both morally and accounting wise:
When i write in general terms I am assuming you have read as most have, the details of what has been discussed about SS.
Fixing the projected cross over of social security solvency requires relatively minor adjustments. Compared to interest paid on the increased national debt, the SS security shortfall is but a minor problem. Several proposals have been made to fix this issue, among which are an extension of the upper income limit beyond the $90K present cap, extending retirement full benefits by two years, reducing the benefit. A 25% reduction extends SS solvency beyond 2070...SS is NOT "bankrupt" as bush and the republicans would have you believe.
b) Clinton separated SS tax revenue from general revenue:
As I showed in the graph I posted, in the year 2000, a year in which the US was under Clinton administration, the budget surplus was greater than the sum of the SS and Medicare surpluses. I don't believe that SS surpluses can be put away or invested, and I remember reading that legally this is how the SS trust fund was setup, so, I believe that the surplus was used to pay down national debt...but I am not sure. Regardless, this was not the point I was making. The main point is that immediately after bush took over, he enacted tax cuts, which 1) overwhelmingly favored upper income brackets and 2) plunged the nation into deficit once again. Today, after 7 years of bush administration, the national debt has more than doubled. The interest paid on such debt exceeds $420B dollars...YEARLY. So on the basis of bush+gop senate+gop congress I say, ABB my ASS.
Al |
