We Italians haven't had a lot of heroes to look up to in the last hundred or so years - sure we had our hey day of a bunch of Renaissance guys running around in long robes with names that sound like pizza toppings. Name me an Italian in the last century or so. Not many huh? Charles Ponzi was an entrepreneur - probably the kinda of guy that today's Koch Brothers would hang with - he probably would have been a Republican - a proponent of less government and laizze-faire. Less regulations my friend (wink).
Having said that all tongue in cheek of course (I mean no disrespect to my Republican or Tea Party friends - said in the best Joe Pesci voice you can muster in your head) - but I must speak up for my brethren Charles, who would be greatly offended that Governor Exemplar of Texas Rick Perry, Republican candidate for President has characterized Social Security as a Ponzi scheme.
Charles clearly was in the business of swindling people - setting up a fraudulent scheme to bilk people out of their hard earned money. Charles had bad things in mind when he started - from the "gitty up" as they say in Texas. Charles would have been horrified to be linked to a government program that was set up help people - to use their money to help themselves.
Does social security need reform - I think we can all agree upon that. Even the "Great Communicator" himself said "the Social Security system must be preserved." and as we all know Ronnie Regan was no fan of the government.
So come Rick - let's leave Charles alone. You don't want trouble with "those" people. Let's let sleeping fish lie and let's get Social Security fixed.
Social Security is a good thing - it has provided a return on its participant's investment and has helped those in need - it has worked for years and I hope it will continue to work for years to come.
First reform: Stop politicians from raiding Social Security to fund government while leaving behind IOUs. They have been doing since at least the 80s. The IOUs amount to double taxation because in order to redeem them, taxes have to be raised so that government can pay its citizens back their money that the citizens already paid the government in the form of social security taxes. Does that sound criminal to you?
ReplyDeleteAnd don't look now but Obama's recent "Job's Plan" is going to weaken Social Security again. In an effort to look like he's doing something and thus save his job, Obama is proposing to cut social security taxes. I fail to see how this will strengthen the program.
I'd like to know why people are not demanding reform of social security now. Not reforming Social Security should be the third rail of politics because how can anyone rely on it in their retirement planning when the program's future funding is unknown?
Oz - Generally all politicians want to "save" their jobs. I don't think Obama's plan is some reaction to the prospect of losing his job - at first look it appears that there is equal support (along party lines) for for the bill.
ReplyDeleteWe can certainly argue whether he should have acted sooner or even whether he should do nothing but reduce the deficit and cut taxes as some would have.
I believe that his intent is good but I believe he has not been proactive enough. A lot of his term has been on the job training which has had its price. I only hope that he will learn from his mistakes and go forward as a strong leader.
I think your outlook on Social Security is directly proportional to how close you are to drawing on it. Whether you characterize it as a Ponzi or Pyramid scheme or a legit entitlement program, it relies on an ever growing base to pay in to support those that are cashing out. And that's if you leave it alone.
ReplyDeleteI'm soon to be 30 and I won't be able to receive full benefits for another 37 years! We've only begun to see how raiding the coffers has f'ed with the numbers. From my point of view, I'm glad to pay less SS tax so that I can put it into my own personal retirement account (Obama's privatizing SS without even knowing it!). Now if I was only that smart...
I agree all politicians want to save their job.
ReplyDeleteYou never asked, so I will ask you - Do you think all I want is to cut taxes and spending?
In keeping with the spirit of your original topic (Social Security), you seem more upset at Rick Perry calling the program a Ponzi Scheme than at the raid that all politicians (including President Obama) have made on the program. Additionally, Obama's Jobs Act is threatening to take away another $245 Billion from the program. Furthermore, how do you feel about taxes needing to be raised to repay taxes Americans have already paid to have a Social Security program?
Oz - of course the mishandling of social security system is much worse than Perry's ignorant comparison. My original post was about wanting to express my resentment over Perry's mischaracterization and how wrong it was.
ReplyDeleteI much prefer to have a discussion on how to fix it.
Saying social security is a Ponzi scheme would be like a husband telling his wife "marriage is a prison term". The husband would probably be coming out of his coma about the time social security runs of out money.
I think Reed said it well - that it depends on one's perspective. If a person is younger than a baby-boomer, fully paying into the system, and expecting ~72% of current benefits with the prospect of higher contributions (e.g. SS taxes) in order to get to 100% - that sounds like something fishy is going on. Fishy meaning criminal.
ReplyDelete"Luke, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view." ―Obi-Wan Kenobi
Interesting post
ReplyDelete