SOCIAL SECURITY PART 4

HELLO WORLD

                          SOCIAL SECURITY PART  1       Published  Dec. 30, 2010

                          SOCIAL SECURITY PART  2       Published  Jan. 10, 2011

                          SOCIAL SECURITY PART  3       Published  Jan.  17, 2011

                          SOCIAL SECURITY PART  4       Published  Jan.  25, 2011

SOCIAL SECURITY PART  4

I HAVE SOME GREAT NEWS.  In Social Security Parts 2 & 3, I referred to, and told you about, Dr. Allen W. Smith Ph. D. and that I had, a number of years ago, corresponded with him.  Well, I have been fortunate, once again, to correspond with him.  He has read my Blogs and has been kind enough to write some comments at the end of Social Security Part 3.  I strongly urge you to read his comments.   I am, however, going to quote part of his comments here, as they are so appropriate and points out one thing regarding the baby boomers that I have not.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

"I want to commend Floyd Bowman for his years of service in trying to alert the public to the great Social Security scam. I have devoted the past ten years of my life, and more than $30,000 in borrowed money, to my mission to raise public awareness to the fact that, for the past 25 years, our government has been “borrowing” or “stealing” money from the Social Security trust fund and using it for such things as funding tax cuts for the rich, two wars, and other government programs.

 The Social Security Amendments of 1983 imposed a hefty payroll tax hike on the baby boomers. All previous generations had been required to pay only for the Social Security benefits of the preceding generation. But the 1982 Greenspan Commission decided that the baby boomers should prepay the cost of their own benefits, in addition to paying for the benefits of their parents’ generation. The boomers were hit with a double whammy, and they have contributed more to the Social Security fund than any other generation. Still, they are often falsely accused of being the cause of the Social Security problem."

The point, that Dr. Smith is making here, is extremely important.  NOT ONLY HAVE THE BABY BOOMERS BEEN HIT WITH A DOUBLE WHAMMY, AS DR. SMITH POINTS OUT, THEY ARE FACING A CONGRESS THAT WANTS TO CUT BENEFITS, RAISE THE ELIGIBILITY AGE, PRIVEATIZE SS, AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE.  THIS WOULD NOT ONLY BE A DOUBLE WHAMMY, IT WOULD BE A TRIPLE WHAMMY FOR THE BABY BOOMERS.   WE CAN NOT LET THIS HAPPEN.   Please, join Dr. Smith and me and lets try to correct this.

Last week, I pointed out that there was one development that has occurred,   since the 1983 plan was formulated, that could not have been anticipated.  That development is the severe recession we are experiencing.  Because of this development, there is less money coming into Social Security (SS) Insurance program, and remember, this is an Insurance Program, not an Entitlement Program.  What is called a "Payroll Tax" is actually a "Payroll Premium" you pay for coverage of this Insurance Program.

Also, remember that, I have previously said that there are two problems that need to be corrected in order for the SS Program to be solvent till 2041.  One: the Government needs to pay back the 2+ trillion dollars it has taken from the SS Trust Fund.  Two: the Government must stop taking money out of the SS Trust Fund.  Because of the recession, there is now number three. 

There will need to be some way to make up the short fall, as a result of lower and fewer premium payments, resulting from the recession. Of course, this is why Congress talks about raising the eligibility age, reduced benefits, means testing, privatizing of SS and others.  All of these are steps towards the end of SS as we now know it.  THIS HITS THE BABY BOOMERS MORE THAN ANY OTHER GENERATION.

I only know of one thing that would help offset this problem.  Whether or not it would be sufficient to make up for the reduced premiums is a question that would have to be determined by statisticians.  As of 2009, you stop paying SS Premiums when you make more than $106,800.00 a year. If that limit were raised it would increase receipt of premiums.  That is the only thing I know of that would help some.  As I said, whether or not it would be enough would be questionable.  Maybe, some of you, Baby Boomers, can think of other ways that would not signal the beginning of the end of SS.

KEEP REMEMBERING, THE SS TRUST FUND CAN BE MADE WHOLE WITHOUT RAISING THE NATIONAL DEBT.  WE NEED TO PUSH THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS TO DO JUST THAT.  ALSO, SS IS NOT AN ENTITLEMENT PROGRAM,  IT IS AN INSURANCE PROGRAM.   

See you next week.

Floyd