OK. Doing something about social security is where the GOP has been more creative. I think that the Dems have their head in the sand on that one. The social security entitlement obligations for the citizens in the workforce today when combined with Medicare stand at over $56 trillion over and above what's allegedly in the trust fund. Who the hell is going to pay for that?
Although, I like the idea of a safety net of savings for retirees, I think we need to scrap social security as it stands today and replace it with a system that still enforces savings, but then tags those savings to each person's social security number. Then put that money in investments with a slightly higher risk rating than US Treasuries, not much higher, but at least enough to offset inflation and make a couple percentage points incrementally.
At the end of the day, we can't sustain programs that force the next generation to pay for today's generation of retirees. It's simply not something we can afford as a country anymore.
I didn't like it when Bush borrowed money from China, which my kids will have to pay back, to give tax cuts to the wealthy. I also don't like it when this generation of retirees expect me to pay for them, when I'm having trouble funding my ongoing savings for my own family's retirement and college education. Everyone needs to become a little more responsible for their own welfare. Just like the GOP is going to need to compromise on healthcare to cut costs enough to offset the looming entitlements in that program, the Dems are going to have to compromise on social security, if we are to ever get back to solvency as a nation.
Why your taxes could double
cnn.com
To help put things in perspective, the Peterson Foundation calculated the federal government accumulated $56.4 trillion in total liabilities and unfunded promises for Medicare and Social Security as of September 30, 2008. The numbers used to calculate this figure come directly from the audited financial statements of the U.S. government.
If $56.4 trillion in financial commitments is too big a number to digest, think of it as $483,000 per American household, or $184,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. |
