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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: brushwud who wrote (4424)	2/27/2004 9:07:30 PM
From: Steve Dietrich	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 81568

<<Someone told me once that "Social Security" is a euphemism for "Taxes & Welfare", but a lot of people still think there's an account somewhere with money in it and their name on it. If everyone could & would provide for their own retirement/disability/survivors, there'd be no need for SS. In order to have benefits for those who don't have enough of a pension or retirement account, others have to be taxed to pay for it. Don't expect a return from that sort of "investment".>> Seems like you've got some of your facts wrong. The first generation to receive SS paid little or nothing into the system. Over 50% of America's elderly were living in poverty before SS. The government doesn't hold your money for you. It takes money from workers and give it to retirees. That's how it started, that's how it's always been. Seeing that the Boomers would stress the system, Reagan increased SS taxes in '83 so it could run surpluses to prepare for the Boomers retirement. SS loaned that surplus money to the treasury. SS holds about $2 trillion of our nation's $7 trillion debt. If we can honor the $5 trillion of non-SS debt, it seems like we can honor SS's share. The scandal is Bush used SS surplus projections to justify his cuts in estate and income taxes. Now that those cuts are bankrupting us, they want to say we can't afford to pay SS benefits. I can't believe this kind of stealing will fly, but we'll see. Steve Dietrich