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Title: Rick Perry is Right: Social Security Really is a Ponzi Scheme
Source: Dissenting Opinions
URL Source: http://jwpegler.blogspot.com/2011/0 ... -is-right-social-security.html
Published: Sep 10, 2011
Author: Eric Blankenburg
Post Date: 2011-09-10 21:05:00 by jwpegler
Keywords: None
Views: 114646
Comments: 228

Rick Perry's comments during this week's GOP debate at the Reagan library has caused quite a stir in the liberal media.

During the debate, Governor Perry defended the words in his book, calling Social Security a "Ponzi scheme".

After the debate, the "analysis" on MSNBC was truly fun to watch as every commentator sat shelled shocked over the fact that a politician would dare to use these words to describe America's most sacred welfare program.

The only person on the panel who had a clue about what might be going on was Ed Schultz who at one point questioned whether or not whether young people would stick with Obama or jump on the Perry bandwagon.

Unlike the political and media establishment in this country, young people understand that they are going to get the short end of the Social Security "inter-generational compact". Schultz surprisingly realized that Perry's message might resonant with young people.

Let's take a quick look at the Social Security system and see if Perry might be on to something.

The people who got into the Social Security system very early got back on average 15 times the amount of money they paid in. They got a great deal and were raving proponents of the system.

The people receiving Social Security benefits today are getting back on average 2 1/2 to 3 times what they paid in. They are also generally strong proponents of the system.

Today, Social Security is paying out more every year than it takes it. We are borrowing money from the foreigners, like the Chinese and Saudis to pay current benefits. As the huge Baby Boom generation retires, the amount of debt we incur each year will quickly escalate until it blows up in our face and old people without resources really do wind up in the street.

So, what happens when my generation starts to retire in 15 to 20 years and what will happen to my kids?

We will all be left holding the bag.

There is a financial MODEL that describes this. The model is called a Pyramid scheme or Ponzi scheme or a Bernie Madoff scheme. The people who get it in early make out like bandits and the people who get it late get screwed.

That is exactly how the Social Security system will play out.

The fact is that the Social Security is a pay-as-you­-go welfare system that transfers money from young, struggling families to relatively well-to-do retired people. There isn't any "trust fund". The words "trust fund" are used to describe a mountain of debt. A mountain of debt is NOT a trust fund. It's a mountain of debt. Today, the mountain of debt in the Social Security system is so great that it cannot be paid.

Peel away the emotion, the Orwellian language about the "trust fund", and the other political rhetoric, and just look at the financial facts. Then this all becomes very clear.

Rick Perry is absolutely right and I am actually impressed that a politician would tell the truth about this. It's truly amazing.

The big question is what can be done?

Long term, people need to be able to save for their own retirements. Social Security needs to be taken back to it's roots as a program that supplements the income of retirees who are truly poor, through no fault of their own.

Today, 25% of people over 65 have pension or investment income that places them in the "wealthy" category. They still get Social Security benefits, so long as they don't work for their income. Why should young struggling families hand money over the wealthy retired people?

They shouldn't. Means testing Social Security will go a long way to make it solvent for the future.

When Social Security was implemente­d, the retirement age was 65. The average life expectancy was 59 for men and 61 for women. Most people didn't live long enough to get a check. Today, the retirement age is still 65. However, life expectancy is 73 for men and 78 for women.

The math just doesn't work.

We need to gradually raise the retirement age to keep up with life expectancy.

Bravo to Perry for telling it like it is. I certainly agree with Ed Schultz that a lot of young people will find this message appealing.

The other group who should find this message appealing are wealthy retirees who are stealing from their children's and grandchildren's future. Will they finally put their selfishness aside and say: "no more"? Probably not, but we'll see.

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#73. To: jwpegler (#47)

They only borrowed $2.6 trillion from Social Security.

I should have mentioned that this is the Federal government "borrowing" from the Federal government. It's like you borrowing from yourself, spending the money, looking at an IOU from you to you, and thinking you still have the money. It makes no financial sense.

nolu chan  posted on  2011-09-12   19:14:57 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#74. To: nolu chan (#65)

I like this Scribd thing you always use. Is it a searchable database? Do you add your own stuff there?

A K A Stone  posted on  2011-09-12   19:19:40 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#75. To: nolu chan (#73)

I should have mentioned that this is the Federal government "borrowing" from the Federal government. It's like you borrowing from yourself, spending the money, looking at an IOU from you to you, and thinking you still have the money. It makes no financial sense.

The analogy I always use is your checking account borrowing from your savings account.

It's a complete fiction.

They should put Social Security in the general fund and pay for it like any other welfare program.


Oh, God, can you ever imagine what would happen to the country if Lyndon Johnson were president? -- Jackie Kennedy

jwpegler  posted on  2011-09-12   19:21:56 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#76. To: jwpegler, nolu chan (#75)

It's a complete fiction.

They should put Social Security in the general fund and pay for it like any other welfare program.

Sure.

But then the Social Compact since the Winter of 32/33 is broken.

The Plutocracy never knows when it has gone too far until it does....;}

And then you have revolution....your call...8D

""Plutonomies have occurred before in sixteenth century Spain, in seventeenth century Holland, the Gilded Age and the Roaring Twenties in the U.S ... Often these wealth waves involve great complexity, exploited best by the rich and educated of the time." According to the Citigroup experts, a plutonomic economy is driven by the consumption of the classes, not the masses:

mcgowanjm  posted on  2011-09-12   21:14:20 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#77. To: mcgowanjm (#76)

Phuck a bunch of classes.

Fred Mertz  posted on  2011-09-12   21:18:04 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#78. To: All (#76)

As nolu chan's article stated, and no one here will respond:

Were our leaders (Raygun/Greenspan) lying then?

Or now?

A recent EPA study estimated that just one law — the Clean Air Act — prevented 230,000 deaths, 3.2 million lost school days, and 13 million lost work days a year in 2010. The benefits of this act, including savings in medical expenses and increased worker productivity, are 30 times greater than its cost of implementation, and the benefits of regulation, more generally, also have been shown to exceed costs [PDF].

mcgowanjm  posted on  2011-09-12   21:24:03 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#79. To: Fred Mertz (#77) (Edited)

Phuck a bunch of classes.

;}

"“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

And so in the Orwellian world of the right-wing, the word “rich” is out and “job creators” is in. There simply are no more rich people in the Tea Party fantasyland. Of course, no jobs are being created, and the rich are simply sitting on their billions, accumulating a staggeringly disproportionate amount of the wealth to shame the Gilded Age — the richest “400 people have more wealth than half of the more than 100 million U.S. households,” Politifact was grudgingly forced to agree that Michael Moore’s statement was correct. So one would have to be a sheep to keep calling them job creators."

mcgowanjm  posted on  2011-09-12   21:28:28 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#80. To: mcgowanjm (#79)

We Rat For You.

??

Nice pic James.

Fred Mertz  posted on  2011-09-12   21:34:39 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#81. To: nolu chan (#34) (Edited)

the "insurer" can change the benefits at any time and in any manner of its choosing

Its like an insurance program. No government program functions exactly like a private sector entity.

NewsJunky  posted on  2011-09-12   21:53:09 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#82. To: A K A Stone (#74)

I like this Scribd thing you always use. Is it a searchable database? Do you add your own stuff there?

http://support.scribd.com/home

http://support.scribd.com/forums

http://www.scribd.com/nolu%20chan

I have an account there for about two years with about 400,000 reads. You may search across your own content or the whole of scribd. You can put tags on a document just as you put tags on a thread here. The document appearing at #65 was uploaded to scribd my myself and I then just copied the embed code (sort of like a youtube) to post it here. Most scribd stuff I embed is from my own scribd account. scribd will accept Microsoft Word format for upload but recommends using only PDF format to properly retain formatting.

"Collections" can be created, similar to a "folder" or "directory" in Windows or DOS.

For example, here is my collection where I uploaded the 26 volumes of the Warren Commission hearings regarding the JFK Assassination. I have collections to group together the documents for lawsuits, or various topics.

nolu chan  posted on  2011-09-12   22:00:50 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#83. To: NewsJunky (#81)

Its like an insurance program. No government program functions exactly like a private sector entity.

It is also exhibits characteristics of a Ponzi scheme where early investors are paid with the money of later investors, and it works as long as the number of investors keeps increasing at the necessary rate. When the increase in new investors slows or stops, the system fails.

An insurance company cannot unilaterally void or change its liability. The government program (a "social compact") can be changed at the whim of the government and there is no legal recourse. The private insurer is subject to enforcement by the courts.

A government program or social compact is not an enforceable promise. It does not really equate to an enforceable contract in commerce, whether one chooses to compare it to a commercial retirement or insurance plan, or any other enforceable contract. It is a thing unto itself, based on the full faith of the government, and the credit of the government.

nolu chan  posted on  2011-09-12   22:37:06 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#84. To: nolu chan (#83)

It is also exhibits characteristics of a Ponzi scheme where early investors are paid with the money of later investors, and it works as long as the number of investors keeps increasing at the necessary rate. When the increase in new investors slows or stops, the system fails.

But the government can always make modifications to raise revenues. Real Ponzi Schemes always fall apart. There is no reason that Social Security must fail.

When the increase in new investors slows or stops, the system fails... It does not really equate to an enforceable contract in commerce, whether one chooses to compare it to a commercial retirement or insurance plan, or any other enforceable contract.

When an insurance company fails (revenue slows down too much), the state guarantee corporation must pay out benefits and may not pay out as much as originally insured for. Doesn't this indicate that private insurance does have certain characteristics of a Ponzi Scheme as well.

NewsJunky  posted on  2011-09-13   0:00:51 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#85. To: NewsJunky (#84)

But the government can always make modifications to raise revenues. Real Ponzi Schemes always fall apart. There is no reason that Social Security must fail.

When a Ponzi-like government program requires more money than the government can raise, the funding will fail. The government cannot raise infinite money just by passing confiscatory laws. When the program payments exceed what those paying in can provide, something has to give.

Governments can, and do, fail. Without change, the social security program will fail. The proportion of persons paying to persons receiving benefits is diminishing. At some point it becomes unsustainable.

When an insurance company fails (revenue slows down too much), the state guarantee corporation must pay out benefits and may not pay out as much as originally insured for. Doesn't this indicate that private insurance does have certain characteristics of a Ponzi Scheme as well.

I do not see the relationship between this and a Ponzi scheme. In any case, the State does not pay out the benefits from some existing fund. It sells the remaining pieces and pays pennies on the dollar and passes on the remainder of the expense to other surviving insurance companies.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_48/b4110100507198.htm

Insurance November 20, 2008, 5:00PM EST

Your Life Insurance Policy May Not Be Protected

Some major insurance companies are in trouble. If they fail, policyholders shouldn't count on guarantees

By Ben Levisohn

[excerpt]

When insurers do fail, state regulators sell off what they can and bill the remaining life insurers operating in that state to make policyholders whole. "The funds have been pretty good at providing a basic level of consumer protection," says Peter G. Gallanis, president of the National Organization of Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Assns.

But the system runs on the assumption that only small insurers are likely to fail, and then only one at a time.

nolu chan  posted on  2011-09-13   1:08:30 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#86. To: jwpegler (#71)

If there are real assets in the trust fund, then Social Security can mail the checks, regardless of what Congress does about the debt limit. Exactly right. That's a point lost on too many people.

Especially the people who receive the checks......

When asked by a Liberal what I bought my Granddaughter for her 1st birthday I replied, "MORE AMMUNITION"!!!! -----------------------------"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

CZ82  posted on  2011-09-13   6:41:05 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#87. To: nolu chan (#82)

Any insight on why you'd devote so much effort to interweb forum research instead of trying to get laid?

-------------------------------------
Whatcha lookin' at, butthead
Why don't you make like a tree and get out of here?

Biff Tannen  posted on  2011-09-13   9:16:29 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#88. To: Biff Tannen (#87)

I got laid on Sunday afternoon. The database doesn't lie.

Fred Mertz  posted on  2011-09-13   9:29:04 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#89. To: Fred Mertz (#80)

We Rat For You.

??

We Eat for You.

;}

mcgowanjm  posted on  2011-09-13   10:03:10 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#90. To: mcgowanjm (#89)

Okay, thanks.

Fred Mertz  posted on  2011-09-13   10:13:41 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#91. To: nolu chan (#73)

I should have mentioned that this is the Federal government "borrowing" from the Federal government. It's like you borrowing from yourself, spending the money, looking at an IOU from you to you, and thinking you still have the money.

It's more like lending money to a close relative at interest. You may belong to the same family, but you are not the same entity.

"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly

lucysmom  posted on  2011-09-13   10:19:16 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#92. To: nolu chan (#69)

Insurance companies amend their terms all the time. Insurance companies deny payments all the time. The investigations show insurance companies doing so on a wide scale.

With the economy still in the dumper -- maybe permanently? -- and full-time jobs becoming as scarce as rain during a drought, huge percentages of Americans have had their (misplaced) faith in the American dream shaken, the upper-middle-class consumerist lifestyle is exposed as a mirage for anybody who plays by the rules. Capitalism and the America that embraced it as a way of life is now and forever more a failure. It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction.

Godwinson  posted on  2011-09-13   10:30:10 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#93. To: mcgowanjm (#76)

But then the Social Compact since the Winter of 32/33 is broken.

And Franklin Roosevelt is dead. So what?


Oh, God, can you ever imagine what would happen to the country if Lyndon Johnson were president? -- Jackie Kennedy

jwpegler  posted on  2011-09-13   10:30:17 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#94. To: nolu chan (#68) (Edited)

That is a matter of fact that a court did figure out.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/24/business/la-fi-metlife-heirs-20110524

State Controller John Chiang and Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones ask whether the life insurer is boosting profits by delaying or failing to pay death benefits quickly enough to heirs or to search aggressively for the beneficiaries.

The overwhelming majority of claims are submitted to the company by heirs, who provide copies of death certificates, Katz said. The Social Security master death list provides "a useful safety net when the normal processes do not work," he said.

Better tracking policies should be more than just a safety net, Chiang said.

The company's motto — "Get Met. It Pays" — may not be totally accurate "because it's unclear at this time what they pay," the controller said.

"They have a business-based rationale for their practices instead of a consumer-based approach to fulfill their promises."

With the economy still in the dumper -- maybe permanently? -- and full-time jobs becoming as scarce as rain during a drought, huge percentages of Americans have had their (misplaced) faith in the American dream shaken, the upper-middle-class consumerist lifestyle is exposed as a mirage for anybody who plays by the rules. Capitalism and the America that embraced it as a way of life is now and forever more a failure. It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction.

Godwinson  posted on  2011-09-13   10:35:04 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#95. To: We The People (#27)

Government has proven that it can NOT be trusted with the peoples wealth.

Who can you trust? Banks? What about the stock market? Real estate? Perhaps gold buried in the backyard?

"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly

lucysmom  posted on  2011-09-13   10:35:29 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#96. To: lucysmom, We The People (#95)

Government has proven that it can NOT be trusted with the peoples wealth.

The govt using peoples wealth, funded the TVA, Hoover Dam, the Manhattan Project, the defeat of many evil empires (Axis and Soviet), ended pandemics in our lifetime, landed men on the moon and invented the computer and the internet.

The private sector brought us cheap internet porn.

With the economy still in the dumper -- maybe permanently? -- and full-time jobs becoming as scarce as rain during a drought, huge percentages of Americans have had their (misplaced) faith in the American dream shaken, the upper-middle-class consumerist lifestyle is exposed as a mirage for anybody who plays by the rules. Capitalism and the America that embraced it as a way of life is now and forever more a failure. It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction.

Godwinson  posted on  2011-09-13   10:38:38 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#97. To: jwpegler (#93)

And Franklin Roosevelt is dead. So what?

Like building a complicated machine.

Or playing chess and performing a complicated maneuver.

You have a tendency to not see when your Queen is mortally exposed.

Same Shite....;}

"Rival factions turn on leadership after the attempt to secure Bani Walid ends in chaos. Kim Sengupta reports from Tripoli

September 12, 2011

The rebels had fought their way in through the narrow streets and alleyways when they ran into an ambush. A desperate appeal for help to their comrades, exiles from Bani Walid whose advice they had followed on the assault, was answered by instructions to fall back to a rendezvous point outside the town.

But when the revolutionaries reached their destination, having fought their way out under intense fire, there was no sign of the Bani Walid contingent. Then, as urgent attempts were being made to establish communications, came salvos of mortar rounds and rockets."

mcgowanjm  posted on  2011-09-13   10:40:42 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#98. To: jwpegler (#93) (Edited)

But then the Social Compact since the Winter of 32/33 is broken.

And Franklin Roosevelt is dead. So what?

Further.

The gop has been desperate in their Gambit to eliminate any trace of the New Deal.

Not realizing it signs their death warrant upon success.

# Gross US Debt Surges By $240 Billion Overnight, US Debt To GDP ... www.zerohedge.com/.../gro...-240-billion-overnight-... - Cached You +1'd this publicly. Undo Aug 3, 2011 – However, how marketable debt could increase by a whopping $125 ... of $15.003 billion, total US debt to GDP is now a post World War II high ...

mcgowanjm  posted on  2011-09-13   10:42:46 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#99. To: mcgowanjm (#97)

I see that you are back on the crack pipe again today.


Oh, God, can you ever imagine what would happen to the country if Lyndon Johnson were president? -- Jackie Kennedy

jwpegler  posted on  2011-09-13   10:43:34 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#100. To: jwpegler (#0)

When Social Security was implemente­d, the retirement age was 65. The average life expectancy was 59 for men and 61 for women. Most people didn't live long enough to get a check. Today, the retirement age is still 65. However, life expectancy is 73 for men and 78 for women.

Most of the gains in life expectancy have been made at the front end - reduction in deaths due to childhood illness. Once making it past childhood, life expectancy has only increased by a little more than 6 years for the upper class and about 2 years for the common folk.

"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly

lucysmom  posted on  2011-09-13   10:48:02 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#101. To: Godwinson (#96)

The private sector brought us cheap internet porn.

and ENRON (all form and no content).

"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly

lucysmom  posted on  2011-09-13   10:50:09 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#102. To: jwpegler (#99)

And I see that you have stopped taking your prescribed meds.

Just want to feel normal. Your old self, eh?

And of course note how your state and You, JW, miss the $$$ Quote from Jackie:

Jackie O: LBJ Had My Husband Killed www.thenewamerican.com/.....o-lbj-had-my-husband-ki... - Cached You +1'd this publicly. Undo

Aug 11, 2011 – London's Daily Mail says Jackie Onassis, the widow of President John F. Kennedy, believed Vice President Lyndon Johnson had her husband ...

JFK Assassination: Kennedy's Head Wound mcadams.posc.mu.edu/head.htm - CachedSimilar You +1'd this publicly. Undo The campaign has been to push Kennedy's head wound to the very back of his head, ... None of the three had access to the autopsy photos and x-rays, so the ...

Triangulation Assassination. # My God, they are going to kill us all. ... Å8; # Nellie Connally www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKconnallyN.htm - CachedSimilar You +1'd this publicly. Undo Then, she wrote, John Connally "was hit himself by the second shot and said ...

"My God, they are going to kill us all"

And they're still in charge....8D

mcgowanjm  posted on  2011-09-13   10:51:27 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#103. To: lucysmom (#100)

And the poor see SS FICA as a tax as most will not make it to 'pay off'.

mcgowanjm  posted on  2011-09-13   10:52:52 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#104. To: Fred Mertz (#88)

Were you in full black leather?

-------------------------------------
Whatcha lookin' at, butthead
Why don't you make like a tree and get out of here?

Biff Tannen  posted on  2011-09-13   11:01:34 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#105. To: Biff Tannen, Fred Mertz, All (#104)

And speaking of $2.6 Trillion stolen by the US Gov't.

Here's $2.3 Trillion Missing from the Pentagon by Rumsfeld on 091001.

LMFAO worth 5 minutes.

Exactly right.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=y...8&feature=player_embedded

img]www.youtube.com/watch?fea...lpage&v=yuC_4mGTs98#t=61s

mcgowanjm  posted on  2011-09-13   11:06:11 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#106. To: Biff Tannen (#104)

No, I was in my church clothes...until I hit the bedroom. It's a Catholic thing.

Fred Mertz  posted on  2011-09-13   11:06:18 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#107. To: Godwinson (#92)

Insurance companies amend their terms all the time. Insurance companies deny payments all the time. The investigations show insurance companies doing so on a wide scale.

Then you should not be meeting such an insurmountable problem providing an on-point example. So far you have provided an example that a court threw out because the claim was explicitly outside the pre-existing coverage, and irrelevant investigations into insurance companies not paying unclaimed benefits.

You have provided not a single example of an insurance company changing the terms of a policy during the term of paid coverage. They may always set new terms prior to entering into a new contract.

nolu chan  posted on  2011-09-13   14:41:20 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#108. To: nolu chan (#107) (Edited)

http://www.mlnlaw.com/Articles/Insurance-Company-Loses-Lawsuit-over-Cancelling- Coverage.shtml

INSURANCE COMPANY LOSES LAWSUIT OVER CANCELLING COVERAGE

A Boulder County, Colorado jury found that an insurance company was in breach of contract when it canceled Jennifer Latham’s health insurance coverage after her wreck. The jury awarded $37 million in damages to Latham.

With the economy still in the dumper -- maybe permanently? -- and full-time jobs becoming as scarce as rain during a drought, huge percentages of Americans have had their (misplaced) faith in the American dream shaken, the upper-middle-class consumerist lifestyle is exposed as a mirage for anybody who plays by the rules. Capitalism and the America that embraced it as a way of life is now and forever more a failure. It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction.

Godwinson  posted on  2011-09-13   14:57:52 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#109. To: Godwinson (#108)

A Boulder County, Colorado jury found that an insurance company was in breach of contract when it canceled Jennifer Latham’s health insurance coverage after her wreck. The jury awarded $37 million in damages to Latham.

You only document that they CANNOT LAWFULLY do as you claim. The contract can be enforced.

Unlike the Federal government program. They can just up and change the law and you cannot sue them to change it back again, or pay the benefits no longer authorized by law. There is no legal recourse.

nolu chan  posted on  2011-09-13   16:23:59 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#110. To: lucysmom, jwpegler, mcgowanjm, all (#91)

http://www.snopes.com/politics/socialsecurity/changes.asp

The Social Security Trust Fund was established in 1939 to receive monies collected for Social Security through payroll taxes. The monies in this fund are managed by the Department of the Treasury; they are not, nor have they ever been, put into the "general operating fund."

However, whether the Social Security Trust Fund can truly be said to be "independent" is problematic. The Social Security Act specifies that the monies in the fund may only "be invested in securities backed by the full faith and credit of the Federal government," such as treasury bills, treasury notes, and treasury bonds, as well as special issue bonds. So, essentially, the government can "invest" Social Security funds by lending them to itself, then spending that money on programs not related to Social Security (e.g., defense, foreign aid, education). The government "pays back" this money when the Social Security program redeems the bonds, but critics of the program contend Social Security will eventually fall into deficit by 2018, and the Treasury won't have the necessary cash on hand to redeem the bonds and pay back the fund. As the Social Security and Medicare Trustees themselves noted in their 2005 Annual Report:

In 2005 the Social Security tax income surplus is estimated to be more than offset by the shortfall in tax and premium income for Medicare, resulting in a small overall cash shortfall that must be covered by transfers from general fund revenues. The combined shortfall is projected to grow each year such that by 2017 net revenue flows from the general fund to the trust funds will total $515 billion, or 2.3 percent of GDP. Since neither the interest paid on the Treasury bonds held in the HI [Hospital Insurance] and OASDI Trust Funds, nor their redemption, provides any net new income to the Treasury, the full amount of the required Treasury payments to these trust funds must be financed by some combination of increased taxation, increased Federal borrowing and debt, or a reduction in other government expenditures. Thus, these payments along with the 75 percent general fund revenue contributions to SMI will add greatly to pressures on Federal general fund revenues much sooner than is generally appreciated.

A somewhat dated but detailed article about how the Social Security trust funds are invested can be found here.

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Social Security - Bill Summary & Status - 98th Congress (1983 - 1984) - HR1900

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Social Security - In Depth Research, Legislative History - Amendments of April 20, 1983 (HR 1900; PL 98-21)

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Social Security - Trust Fund FAQs

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Status of the Social Security and Medicare Programs - Trustees Report Summary - Actuarial Publication 2011

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nolu chan  posted on  2011-09-13   16:26:05 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#111. To: nolu chan (#109)

Unlike the Federal government program. They can just up and change the law and you cannot sue them to change it back again

You talk as if the govt is not of the people, by the people, for the people and a third party.

With the economy still in the dumper -- maybe permanently? -- and full-time jobs becoming as scarce as rain during a drought, huge percentages of Americans have had their (misplaced) faith in the American dream shaken, the upper-middle-class consumerist lifestyle is exposed as a mirage for anybody who plays by the rules. Capitalism and the America that embraced it as a way of life is now and forever more a failure. It does me good to know that the generation that voted in Reagan and his ideology will see their America die from that ideology before their very own eyes and knowing they had a hand in its destruction.

Godwinson  posted on  2011-09-13   16:29:56 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#112. To: nolu chan (#110)

essentially, the government can "invest" Social Security funds by lending them to itself, then spending that money on programs not related to Social Security

Exactly right. The "assets" in the "trust fund" are in fact government debt. There is $2.6 trillion dollars worth of debt in the Social Security "trust fund".

critics of the program contend Social Security will eventually fall into deficit by 2018

This must be an old article, because the Social Security system fell into deficit this year. The deficits will increase dramatically as the baby boomers continue to retire.

According to MSNBC, over the next 75 years, the government is projected to spend $211 trillion more than it takes in (in today's dollars). Most of those deficits are due to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

The economy is only $14 trillion a year. To pay for projected deficits over the next 75 years, the government would have to completely confiscate 15 years of GDP. This is on top of current taxes.

We are headed for the biggest financial catastrophe the world has ever seen.

It's absolutely maddening that the economic illiterates just don't get it.


Oh, God, can you ever imagine what would happen to the country if Lyndon Johnson were president? -- Jackie Kennedy

jwpegler  posted on  2011-09-13   16:38:52 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  



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