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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas A Watson who wrote (720627)	1/4/2006 5:32:36 PM
From: pompsander	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Tom: You need to work on your Social Security facts. Existing Contributions will cover benefits through 2018. See this link from ther Heritage Foundation, hardly a "left-wing" think tank. "Social Security will begin to spend more for benefits than it takes in from payroll taxes in 2018. In order to pay full promised benefits between then and 2070, each family in America would have to pay an additional $104,810 in taxes. In total, Social Security will need an additional $27 trillion (in constant 2004 dollars without inflation) over and above what it is scheduled to receive in payroll taxes." In the pension world we call this "fully funded", as if all future obligations stopped accruing today, there is enough money to cover the actuarial debt. It is the spectre of the baby boomers coming that throws it out of whack...but not for a while. It wasn't "long long ago" that the surplus was depleted...heck, this could still be fixed today without a huge amount of financial pain. And, while there is no real money in the "trust fund" for Social Security (ain't that a misnomer), the positive financial experience has been claimed by administrations ever since Nixon as an offset to deficits...to make them look better than they are. The administrations use the surplus tax revenues to pay for other programs and issue IOUs. Check the OMB info on this, and the Heritage Foundation site. These guys don't like the current system, but everyone agrees it pays for itself at present. Medicare, however, is a black hole heritage.org You are really having a confused day.