Tommy Tuberville once again shows to the world by opening his mouth he doesn't understand what he's talking about and that he should have just fracking stayed on the football field
Whenever I'm reading something and they mention 'longer average lifespan' it drives me up a wall. People are NOT living longer. Fewer children are dying. In fact, America's average lifespan, with the help of COVID has decreased from 79 to 76 - even with almost no deaths among children from the virus. This kind of reasoning really needs to stop until it's true. In my family, my grandmother lived to be 96, my mother to 86 and my oldest sister died at 67 - so I'm not seeing the increase in lifespan on a personal level.
A modest proposal for preserving and funding SS and M'Care: 1) Remove the current cap on the amount of income subject to FICA taxes; 2) A 1% tax on all income -Dividends, capital gains, lottery winnings, etc. not subject to FICA taxes. Make that 1% tax sacrosanct, untouchable for any other purpose.
Look, Joe. As a 71 year old progressive (yes, I did inhale, and still do), I am sick of all the hand-wringing about Social Security and Medicare.
The answers to the issues of both are simple, straightforward…and just.
Social Security (2 items):
(1) Remove the income cap. Tax ALL income equally as to SS. Period.
(2) Means-test the benefits. Social Security is social INSURANCE…if you don’t need it, then congratulations, but due to your social insurance payments it was there if you needed it. Your insured house didn’t burn down, but you never demanded your money back.
As for Medicare:
Lower the eligibility age for Medicare by 5 years every year, and in 11 years we will have Medicare for All…and, every year during those 11 years, insurance premiums will go down more than taxes will go up, guaranteed.
People will be healthier, and the medicopharminsurance complex will have a soft landing (and whine about it).
It’s not rocket science. Hell, it’s not even affordable housing!
Thanks, Joe, for this informative piece on SS. Coincidentally, in today's NYT, Paul Krugman's column is titled "How Not To Panic About Social Security," and I suggest your readers follow up with that piece if they can. It helped my husband (almost 67 and prone to mini panic attacks on this very subject) calm his butt down, at least until the next hair-on-fire republican proclaims our economic apocalypse to be neigh!
We, the people, have paid into Social Security and Medicare as part of a social contract with our government. Those who have mismanaged those programs and our financial investments are straining that contract to the breaking point. We should hold them accountable and find reasonable people with real world ideas to restore financial health to our investments.
28% of Medicare spending, about 170 billion, is spent on care in the last 6 months of life.
I don't know that there is a solution to this, because when the ACA wanted to reimburse doctors for having conversations about end of life care, the public interpreted this as "Death Panels". To say the issue is "toxic" is a massive understatement.
The Great Society Programs and Social security mean that children and the elderly have better housing, food and healthcare.
It is infuriating that the obvious solutions mentioned in all the comments below seem so far beyond our politicians.
I am a business owner and last I looked, I would pay more taxes with the cap removed. But, my taxes went up under TFG and I grumbled about it but didn’t die. At least this way I am not subsizing his cronies.
Social Security does not exist in a vacuum and, from what I understand, was never supposed to be a sole or primary source of retirement income. Just because people can live longer does not mean that they must work longer. In some jobs, this is not feasible. One option I think is in place in some states, is the requirement for people to opt OUT of 401(k)s, rather than to opt in. There probably needs to be a mix of tax increase (ie raise the cap) and having a transition period to people actually saving for retirement. I have a concern about cuts in benefits, but maybe some sort of means testing might apply. But we will still need Social Security as some sort of back stop. Yes, James Capretta was correct, both sides are not realistic in their current thinking.
A side note - I read a comment from some people in currently in retirement in an article about the difficulties Social Security is having. They were fine with some of the proposed changes, even saying that if they could not get it it would be OK. They were sitting on a 7-figure portfolio and collecting $40K from Social Security. My thought - if you are OK with not collecting, then why are you collecting it?
There will need to be some tough discussions held, but not with this Congress.
Tax increases, lifting income caps, means testing, age and benefit adjustments. Fix SS and Medicare by making EVERYONE unhappy. Gotta take your medicine.
Anyone, including you, who uses the terms “insolvency“ and “bankruptcy“ to describe the fiscal problems of social security is being disingenuous. As long as there are American workers contributing taxes to the program, there will be money there. The problem isn’t that SS going broke, the problem is that there won’t be enough money to pay everyone 100% of what they were promised unless some reasonable changes are made. Quit scaring people with inappropriate terms.
Take a look at Paul Krugman's analysis of the financial future of SS and Medi. Worth the effort before flatly asserting SS and Medi are heading for insolvency
Keeping in mind that no proposal for changing SS and other earned benefits programs (I like that better than “entitlements”) will be without exceptions I think we could find a way to raise the retirement age. I think people are generally working longer (I know I am) and if that is truly a trend it might make sense. It’s also possible that removing the income cap could work, but the Ds don’t trust the Rs to really fix it and not try to privatize or otherwise kill it.
Getting rid of the income cap on Socials Security would keep it funded for an additional 35 years
Tommy Tuberville once again shows to the world by opening his mouth he doesn't understand what he's talking about and that he should have just fracking stayed on the football field
Whenever I'm reading something and they mention 'longer average lifespan' it drives me up a wall. People are NOT living longer. Fewer children are dying. In fact, America's average lifespan, with the help of COVID has decreased from 79 to 76 - even with almost no deaths among children from the virus. This kind of reasoning really needs to stop until it's true. In my family, my grandmother lived to be 96, my mother to 86 and my oldest sister died at 67 - so I'm not seeing the increase in lifespan on a personal level.
Medicare could save a bundle by negotiating all drug prices like the VA.
A modest proposal for preserving and funding SS and M'Care: 1) Remove the current cap on the amount of income subject to FICA taxes; 2) A 1% tax on all income -Dividends, capital gains, lottery winnings, etc. not subject to FICA taxes. Make that 1% tax sacrosanct, untouchable for any other purpose.
Look, Joe. As a 71 year old progressive (yes, I did inhale, and still do), I am sick of all the hand-wringing about Social Security and Medicare.
The answers to the issues of both are simple, straightforward…and just.
Social Security (2 items):
(1) Remove the income cap. Tax ALL income equally as to SS. Period.
(2) Means-test the benefits. Social Security is social INSURANCE…if you don’t need it, then congratulations, but due to your social insurance payments it was there if you needed it. Your insured house didn’t burn down, but you never demanded your money back.
As for Medicare:
Lower the eligibility age for Medicare by 5 years every year, and in 11 years we will have Medicare for All…and, every year during those 11 years, insurance premiums will go down more than taxes will go up, guaranteed.
People will be healthier, and the medicopharminsurance complex will have a soft landing (and whine about it).
It’s not rocket science. Hell, it’s not even affordable housing!
Thanks, Joe, for this informative piece on SS. Coincidentally, in today's NYT, Paul Krugman's column is titled "How Not To Panic About Social Security," and I suggest your readers follow up with that piece if they can. It helped my husband (almost 67 and prone to mini panic attacks on this very subject) calm his butt down, at least until the next hair-on-fire republican proclaims our economic apocalypse to be neigh!
We, the people, have paid into Social Security and Medicare as part of a social contract with our government. Those who have mismanaged those programs and our financial investments are straining that contract to the breaking point. We should hold them accountable and find reasonable people with real world ideas to restore financial health to our investments.
28% of Medicare spending, about 170 billion, is spent on care in the last 6 months of life.
I don't know that there is a solution to this, because when the ACA wanted to reimburse doctors for having conversations about end of life care, the public interpreted this as "Death Panels". To say the issue is "toxic" is a massive understatement.
The Great Society Programs and Social security mean that children and the elderly have better housing, food and healthcare.
It is infuriating that the obvious solutions mentioned in all the comments below seem so far beyond our politicians.
I am a business owner and last I looked, I would pay more taxes with the cap removed. But, my taxes went up under TFG and I grumbled about it but didn’t die. At least this way I am not subsizing his cronies.
Social Security does not exist in a vacuum and, from what I understand, was never supposed to be a sole or primary source of retirement income. Just because people can live longer does not mean that they must work longer. In some jobs, this is not feasible. One option I think is in place in some states, is the requirement for people to opt OUT of 401(k)s, rather than to opt in. There probably needs to be a mix of tax increase (ie raise the cap) and having a transition period to people actually saving for retirement. I have a concern about cuts in benefits, but maybe some sort of means testing might apply. But we will still need Social Security as some sort of back stop. Yes, James Capretta was correct, both sides are not realistic in their current thinking.
A side note - I read a comment from some people in currently in retirement in an article about the difficulties Social Security is having. They were fine with some of the proposed changes, even saying that if they could not get it it would be OK. They were sitting on a 7-figure portfolio and collecting $40K from Social Security. My thought - if you are OK with not collecting, then why are you collecting it?
There will need to be some tough discussions held, but not with this Congress.
C) All of the Above.
Tax increases, lifting income caps, means testing, age and benefit adjustments. Fix SS and Medicare by making EVERYONE unhappy. Gotta take your medicine.
Anyone, including you, who uses the terms “insolvency“ and “bankruptcy“ to describe the fiscal problems of social security is being disingenuous. As long as there are American workers contributing taxes to the program, there will be money there. The problem isn’t that SS going broke, the problem is that there won’t be enough money to pay everyone 100% of what they were promised unless some reasonable changes are made. Quit scaring people with inappropriate terms.
Paul Ryan received SS benefits after the death of his father. He's the typical GOPer, I got mine, screw you! What a hypocrite!!!
Take a look at Paul Krugman's analysis of the financial future of SS and Medi. Worth the effort before flatly asserting SS and Medi are heading for insolvency
Keeping in mind that no proposal for changing SS and other earned benefits programs (I like that better than “entitlements”) will be without exceptions I think we could find a way to raise the retirement age. I think people are generally working longer (I know I am) and if that is truly a trend it might make sense. It’s also possible that removing the income cap could work, but the Ds don’t trust the Rs to really fix it and not try to privatize or otherwise kill it.