The previous post demonstrated these three points about America’s first Socialist program, Social Security:
1. That Social Security benefits DEcrease as retirement eligibility age increases.
2. That the retiree receives barely a third of what they earned while working.
3. The benefits will DEcrease as the Unfunded Mandate of Medicare continues to skyrocket.
For this post, we will focus on the following quote from this site: https://t.co/Y16JzxSkQz
“The [Social Security] trustees estimate that, if policymakers took no further action, Social Security’s combined Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance trust funds will be exhausted in 2034. After 2034, even if policymakers took no further action, Social Security could still pay three-fourths of scheduled benefits, relying on Social Security taxes as they are collected. Alarmists who claim that Social Security won’t be around when today’s young workers retire either misunderstand or misrepresent the projections. The long-term gap between Social Security’s projected income and promised benefits is estimated at 1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) over the next 75 years (and 1.5 percent of GDP in the 75th year).
“Policymakers should address Social Security’s long-term shortfall primarily by increasing Social Security’s tax revenues. Social Security will necessarily require an increasing share of our nation’s resources in the coming decades as the population ages, and polls show a widespread willingness to support it through higher tax contributions. Recent trends also justify boosting Social Security’s payroll tax revenue: Social Security’s tax base has eroded since the last time policymakers addressed solvency in 1983, largely due to increased inequality and the rising cost of non-taxed fringe benefits, such as health insurance.”
YAY!!! Social Security is “only 1% of GDP for the next 75 years. GREAT NEWS, right??? Maybe not. United States GDP is $20.66 Trillion. There are 118,825,921 households in the United States.
It seems that each household would need to “only” contribute an additional $1,738.67 for each household in the United States, every year, for seventy-five years.
Do you have your checkbook out yet?
So, decreased benefits, or increased taxes, or both. AND, it hurts the poor the most.
Or…..do we modify the Social Security system to privatize the withdrawals, invest them in broad based stock indices, and create a Nation of Millionaires?
#ItsJustMath
#SocialSecurityHurtsThePoor
#TheyCantGiveItToYouUnlessTheyFirstTakeItFromYou
#TheFoundersWeep