But starting with LBJ the system was tinkered with so that the funds would become part of the General accounts of the federal government and used to do what Congress wanted to do. The government(Congress)was supposed to develop a plan to repay the IOU’s, which never happened.

So once again we have the democratic party leadership in Congress doing their usual slight of hand based on the fact that they have a “situational ethic and a flexible integrity” which they always use to get out the tight situations they have put the country in.

This sound very much like what is happening today with the Medical Reform legislation – a program that will surely bankrupt the country within a few short years.

If you want to argue it is a waste of tax payer money…etc. Thats fine, but please dont think that it has any good medicinal use. Plus once it becomes “Medicinal Marijuana” how much mark up will the big pharm companies put on it. The FDA will make sure to not allow you to grow your own. Just like they dont allow you to grow any opioid plants (that where many pain killers come from) also where heroin comes from.

An insurance program takes in enough money to cover expenses of running it and paying benefits, and invests the excess to reduce premiums.

Social Security is a transfer payment between younger workers and older retirees. The system pays out much more money than it takes in. The so-called Trust Fund was designed as a stop-gap measure. Excess funds are put into special Treasure certificates at a fixed low interest rate. Some investment. Congress has used all this up. The so-called Social Security lock box during the Clinton administration was a lie. As long as the money was put into the Treasury, it was going to be used. Either Congress uses that money directly, or borrows against it, instead. Where is Congress going to get the TRILLIONS AND TRILLIONS owed by the Treasury to the Trust Fund? Either by borrowing again, or by raising taxes.

The other Social Security functions, like Survivors, SSI, SSDI, Disability were all added later, but premiums weren’t immediately changed to account for those added costs.

On the drug war, I really don’t care whether drugs “ruin people’s lives.” Grow up, people. There are lots of things that ruin people’s lives. Figure it out for yourselves, and don’t do those things. Getting married and having children ruins a lot of people’s lives, but we don’t make those things illegal, do we? What about eating too much, or not exercising enough? More nanny state laws? Sheesh.

Regarding social security, I am irritated by the seemingly widely-held belief that SSI is the only thing keeping most old people from a cat food diet. Age is by far the strongest correlator to wealth in the USA. These geezers have plenty of money – they just never have to use it, because their needs are met by the younger generations, who will have to work until they’re 90. If it’s been 15 years since you got back everything you ever paid into SSI, yet you’ve been drawing $2K a month ever since, where do you think the money comes from? Are you entitled to a 25-year retirement through no effort on your own part? Unbelievable. What a welfare queen mentality.

And I don’t really care whether 70% of Americans have no financial sense. Too damn bad. Get a clue and learn these things. If you reach adulthood and don’t know how to balance a checkbook, then your parents and school have let you down, but you are an adult and will just have to figure it out for yourself. Young people are just starting out and they are getting hosed by SSI. Old people have had their entire lives to prepare for the time when they could no longer work. I would love it if a leader came forward and said outright that they want to end SSI and Medicare. No apologies, no backpedaling. I’d vote for them in a heartbeat.

Oh, and speaking of Medicare, if you’ve never earned $2 million in your life, but you still want to have $2 million spent on your hospital bills during the six months it takes you to die, where do you think that money comes from?

This rant has been brought to you by the letter T, and by the number seven.

Not true, as you are not “investing” you are being “taxed”.

I think SS is a good system that should be kept with some modifications. It helps millions and millions of families with children, disabled children and retired citizens.

However, we should do away with the separate SS tax and just increase the federal tax. That will end most of the arguments about it not producing a good rate of return and it being ponzi scheme, etc.

The only scam with SS is that we’ve been using the SS-tax surplus to pay for non-SS things (wars, tax-cuts, etc).

If anything, it is the SS Trust Fund itself that might potentially be scammed here — not that SS is doing the scamming.

As long as the US taxpayers repay the nearly $3 trillion it owes the SS Trust Fund, then everything will be fine. If any administration defaults on the $3 trillion obligation the SS-Trust Fund is owed, then that will be an epic scam — making what Bernie did look like small potatoes.

I definitely agree on ending the wars ASAP – Why we went into Iraq I will never understand. Has anyone yet told Bush that the 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia and not Iraq.

Also the war on drugs, what a waste of money. If people only realized the costs we are paying for this war. People needlessly in jail, judges, prosecutors, police officers, etc.

Decriminalize drug – please.

You can’t opt out AND if you died our became disabled, you and your family would be very happy you did not opt out.

If you opt out as say 25 and had a wife and 3 kids, after your say $15,000 is gone, who is going to support your children? Or if you became disable?

Also, what happens when you and the 70% of america with horrible finacial skills pisses away the money they did not pay into SS?