Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Broken_Clock who wrote (124150)	8/23/2010 7:18:03 PM
From: Freedom Fighter	Respond to of 132070

BC, IMO the very long term goal should be to turn SS into a kind of welfare system. The reality is that many people would be WAY better off if they saved their own contributions to SS (and those of their employers) in a private plan and managed the money like they do with their 401Ks, IRAs etc... There are several problems with that. 1. Some people will never make enough money to save for retirement adequately 2. Some people will make major investment errors that will wipe them out (or close). 3. It's difficult to unwind a pyramid scheme What they should do to start is totally eliminate SS benefits for the super rich, very wealthy, and others with huge retirement income streams and assets. That will help reduce the long term liabilities of the pyramid scheme. Then they should do whatever other tinkering is required (other than raising taxes to make it reasonably sound) Over a very long period of time, they should both reduce the tax rate very slowly and eliminate/reduce payments for more people at the top. The former is critical because it will free up more cash flow for private savings. That will slowly increase the number of people that can be eliminated from the program because they will have more private savings. This will create a positive self reinforcing process that will privatize the system over several decades but keep a kind of retirement safety net in place much like welfare, food stamps etc... where everyone pays in but only those that need it get it. That way those that can take better care of themselves will do so and those that can't or that screw up will be covered by a system with a massively lower tax that we all pay.

To: Broken_Clock who wrote (124150)	8/23/2010 8:16:02 PM
From: Knighty Tin	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 132070

He is wrong. The teabaggers still want to get rid of Social Security and Medicare and are hiding that fact until after they are elected. Some, like Rand Paul and the goofy Senatorial candidate in Nevada, aren't even hiding it, other than not talking to real press members who will ask them about it. Fox News won't, so they talk to them. Fortunately, there will not be nearly enough of them, under any scenario, to totally destroy the American working class. Yet!