HELLO WORLD AGAIN:
A few words about this blog. I plan to update once a week on Monday. The next update will be Jan. 10, 2011. My first message deals with Social Security.
Before that I want to tell you just a little bit about who I am. I am 86 years young. I live in Owasso, Ok. I have had a lot of life's experiences. That doesn't make me a expert in anything, but does give me a base to draw upon. For the past five years I have been doing a lot of research on a number of issues that affect all of us. I have become quite concerned about some of these issues so I decided to try a little "soap boxing" on this blog
The dissatisfaction about our government, that is expressed almost daily by someone, reminds me of a television program in 1964-1965 named "Slattery's People". It was about a U. S. Senator and his experiences in Washington
SOCIAL SECURITY
As Ed Schultz says, this really hits my hot button. There is so much misunderstood about Social Security that it is difficult to know where to begin. Like is said, I guess the best way is to start at the beginning.
Social Security became the law of the land in 1935. In the seven and one half decades since, there have been many changes in coverage and benefits. I am only going to talk about where we are today and developments that have brought us here. However, if you want to know every detail regarding every change since implementation one of the best reports, in my opinion, can be found on "Social Security: West's Encyclopedia of American Law".
The present name is Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI). Note the word "Insurance". Almost everyone looks on SS as though it is an entitlement program. It is not. An entitlement program is one in which the government provides the money. An insurance program is one in which you pay a premium that gives you stated benefits when you meet certain requirements. This is an insurance program and you pay a premium every time you get a pay check.
In 1982 President Regan appointed a blue ribbon committee, headed by Allen Greenspan, to study the status of SS which was starting to fall short, in the near future, of receiving enough income to meet outgo. Also, there was going to be a greater demand in the future when the Baby Boomers started retiring. In short, they came up with a plan that would make the system solvent through 2041 when the youngest Baby Boomers would be 79.
Well that is just great. There is no more problem. They even took into account the diminishing ratio of premium payers vs. the beneficiaries.
SORRY, ONE MORE PROBLEM:
The SS Trust Fund was always suppose to be kept separate from General Revenue. However, it was officially made illegal to use it as General Revenue in the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, which Bush Sr. signed into law.
The problem today is that Democrats and Republicans, both, have used the SS Trust Fund as though it were General Revenue and have spent ALL of it on other programs. It is the biggest fraud ever perpetrated on the American people. They have used in excess of 1.7 trillion dollars of the SS Trust Fund and continue to use it at a rate of more than 400 million dollars each and every day.
By getting the thinking of SS as an entitlement program instead of insurance they have no trouble even convincing themselves that it is part of the deficit problem. They treat it as though it were a line item of the budget, which it actually is now the way they have depleted the Trust Fund. SS should have nothing to do with annual budget.
You may recall that when Geo. W. Bush wanted to make his big tax cut he referred to the great surplus the Fed. Government had and that the government was taking to much from the tax payers. The big surplus he referred to was the SS Trust Fund plus a small true budget surplus that Clinton
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ONLY TWO THINGS TO DO TO SLOVE THE PROBLEM
When they took, and take money from the SS Trust Fund, they have to put something in the Trust Fund for accounting purposes. So they provide government bonds to replace the money. In other words, we borrow from ourselves. By doing this they, the bonds, become a part of our national debt. The solution coming Jan. 10, 2011.
