Social Security Part 8

WELCOME TO OPINIONS  BASED  ON  FACTS (OBOF)

          OVERVIEW                                 Published Dec.28, 2010

          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. 24, 2011

          SOCIAL SECURITY PART 5    Published Jan. 31, 2011

          SOCIAL SECURITY PART 6    Published Feb. 07, 2011

          SOCIAL SECURITY PART 7    Published Feb. 14, 2011

          SPECIAL ISSUE                         Published Feb. 18, 2011

          SOCIAL SECURITY PART 8    Published Feb. 21, 2011

SOCIAL SECURITY PART 8

POSTING COMMENTS

It has been brought to my attention, that some of you may have been wanting to send some comments, but you have had trouble getting them posted.  I would like to try to explain about the process of posting a comment.

When you write a comment and try to post it, you will find you need to click on the word "Profile."  When you do that, six options will pop up for you to choose from to enter and post.  They are Google Account, LiveJournal, WordPress, TypePad, AIM, OpenID.  It is necessary for you to have an account with, at least one of these, in order to post your comments.  When you click on one of these it will move on into the next step and then to post.

If you can't post comments, you sure can still follow the Blog and I sure hope you will.  Also, you can E-mail me if you wish.  fab_80@cox.net.

NOTHING BETTER TO START THIS ISSUE WITH

There is nothing better to start this issue with than a comment from the Master -- Dr. Allen W. Smith Ph.D.

"I just read Floyd's special issue, and it is excellent.  He writes extremely well, and his facts are correct.  It is also clear that Floyd is following new developments very closely. 

As some of you may know from Floyd's statements, I have devoted the past ten years of my life to researching and writing about Social Security. During that entire period I have been trying to expose the great Social Security scam. That scam is the fact that, for the past 25 years, the government has routinely routed all surplus Social Security revenue into the general fund and used it to fund non-Social Security government operations.

This is a violation of the public trust and a violation of federal law. This illegal practice has continued under five presidents--two Democrats and three Republicans. 

Floyd became a part of my efforts in 2004 when he read my book, "The Looting of Social Security," before it was censored and pulled from the market.  I urge all readers of the blog to follow it closely and participate in the discussion. I know for a fact that, like me, Floyd has spent a substantial amount of personal money on this effort.  He is devoting both time and money to the effort to expose the Social Security fraud.  I commend him for it, and urge readers to take advantage of having access to the wealth of information that has, and will continue to be, presented through this blog." 

A COUPLE OF INTERESTING POINTS

On "Meet The Press" yesterday, Feb. 20, Senator Durbin, (D. ILL.) in connection with spending cuts, as he listed items to be on the table, said "Social Security should not be on the table and that it adds nothing to the deficit."  Senator Graham (R. S. C.) strongly felt that SS should be on the table with everything else.  That exchange is really not a surprise except that it is good to hear, again, yet from another source, that SS does not add to the deficit.  The more this is said, the more it will not be on the chopping block for present cuts. 

This, of course, does not make SS immune to overhaul in relation to the future and Graham brought that up.  He said something to the effect that in order for SS to remain solvent in future years changes will have to be made that would apply to those who are 55 and younger now.  This is the matter that we must also direct our efforts towards.

EXAMPLE OF WHY IT IS SO HARD TO KNOW WHAT TO BELIEVE

Last week, House Speaker John Boehner, made the statement on TV that "Since Obama took office he has added 200,000 new Federal jobs."  That's right TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND NEW FEDERAL JOBS.  He made no mention as to where he got those figures.

That evening on the Rachel Maddows show on MSNBC, she replayed Boehner statement and then said that it was not 200,000 but that it was 58,000.  Once again, she did not provide any information as to where she got those figures.

Now, they can't both be right and maybe neither one.  Just shows how distorted things can be.  I did check with the Bureau of Employment Statistics.  One point of interest was that there were 153,000 new temporary jobs in relation to the 2010 Census.  Those can't be laid at Obama's door step.  That will occur every ten years no matter who is President. 

REALLY THE MOST IMPORTANT PART

I debated about bringing this up as the first thing and most important thing for this issue.  I decided to talk about it, some, at the end and make it the main part of the issue next week. 

The way things are progressing, the time is almost here for  us to get letters sent and phone calls made.  There is a considerable amount I would like to review with you about this. As I have said before, I want to give you a sample letter that you can use or use any part of it or just write your own.

In the meantime, you might get the names, addresses and telephone numbers of your Senators and Representatives.  You can get this on the internet or I am sure the Republican and Democratic County headquarters are listed in the phone book and could provide you with this information.

FINALLY

There is a national Democratic PAC called MoveOn with a little more than 5 million members.  They have started a SpeakOut program in which, they are arranging to have open meetings with Legislators.  The first one is in Tulsa this coming Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011, in Senator Inhofe's office, at the F & M Bank Bldg.

Suite 100

, at 4:00 p.m..  We need as many to come, as possible.  For those of you out of the area, I will report next week on what happened.  I think I may have a good opportunity to speak about SS.

See you next week  

Floyd

SPECIAL ISSUE of OBOF

S P E C I A L

I S S U E

O F

OPINIONS BASED ON FACTS

February 18, 2011

So much has been happening this week in Washington, that it is important to call this to your attention now.  Besides what has been happening in Washington, it is important to know what has happened to Dr. Smith Ph. D.

Just to show you how hot this thing is right now, Dr. Allen Smith Ph.D. (the economist that I have been working with) wrote some comments in answer to some articles that were on the internet Monday and Tuesday.  The one he wrote about on Monday was left on for 12 hrs and was taken off.  He tried to re-post it and a note came up that said "Sorry, but you have been blocked from posting comments on this website."

The powers that be, who ever they are, got him stopped, because they didn't want that told.  The same thing happened on the one he posted Tuesday. 

Also, a few years back, this same thing happened to one of his SS books.  It was published, put in book stores across the nation and all of a sudden they were taken off of the shelves and the supplies, still in a warehouse, disappeared.  The publisher would not print any more copies.  Dr. Smith borrowed money, a total of $30,000 and established his own publishing co. 

What I have been telling you for the past seven weeks has now started.  The new Fed. Budget went to the Hill Monday Feb.14, 2011 and one day later, Social Security hit the fan.  It is going to be blowing all over the place for next, who knows how long.

Up to now I have kept politics out of my messages, except to point out that, both Democratics and Republicans have raided the Social Security Trust Fund.

Opinions Based On Facts is still going to be based on facts, but those facts force me to get into some politics.  To start with I am going to tell you that I am a Democrat.  I guess you would class me as a progressive Democrat, but not an all the way left liberal Democrat.  Hope that doesn't turn some of you off.  This is a matter that affects all Republicans and Democrats and that is the way I try to think.  I am not using the Blog to promote either party or any candidate.  I am using this to enlighten you about programs that affect all of us.

As I have been saying, Social Security (SS) was already being talked about, on Tuesday as one way to reduce the deficit.  The President, on Tuesday, responded by saying that SS contributes very little to the deficit.  THE FACT IS THAT SS CONTRIBUTES NOTHING TO THE DEFICIT.  There were a number of Senators and Representatives that said on television Tuesday, that it adds nothing to the deficit. 

Now, it is true that the Government is now having to put some money back into the SS program, since the program is now receiving less money from FICA, than it is paying out.  THAT MONEY HOWEVER, IS SIMPLY PAYING BACK SOME TO THE TRUST FUND THAT HAS BEEN TAKEN OUT; THUS REDUCING SOME OF THE NATIONAL DEBT, per the chart Dr. Smith provided us last week.  That has nothing to do, whatsoever, with the Government Operating Deficit.   

The Republicans will attack SS because they will show that the Government is having to shore up the SS program, which, as I have just pointed0 out, is not true at all.  However, they will try hard to make it sound true.  Now folks, you can find facts abundant, that shows the Republican Party has been against SS from the very beginning in 1935.  They have tried to eliminate it every chance they think there is a possibility of doing so.  They will distort what is true in order to either diminish the program or get rid of it altogether.  They will push hard to do that this year.  WE SIMPLY CAN NOT LET THAT HAPPEN. 

In previous parts, I have talked about the difference between an Entitlement program and an Insurance program.  This is going to become very important in the coming days, weeks and months.  An Entitlement program is one that is funded by the Fed. Government.  An Insurance program is one that is funded by premiums paid by the beneficiaries of the program.

Medicare and Medicaid are both Entitlement programs.  Social Security is an Insurance program.  First, look at the legal name of Social Security. It is Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI).  The name of the payroll deduction from working people, which is a premium, not a tax, is Federal Insurance Contribution Account (FICA).  Everywhere Social Security is referred to, legally, it is called Insurance.  EVERYONE IN WASHINGTON REFERS TO SS AS AN ENTITLEMENT PROGRAM.  IT SIMPLY IS NOT.

They point to the fact that the Government is having to shore up the SS program from tax dollars and that makes it an Entitlement program.  Just not true.  Without getting into the details of the 1983 plan, it would have built a surplus that would have taken care of the shortfall that is now happening and going to happen for many years to come.  However, the Government took all that money from the SS Trust Fund and used it as General Revenue.  Had that not happened the surplus would be there to take care of this shortfall.  All that is happening now, is that the Government is having to pay back some of the money it has taken in the past. 

So you see, SS is not being supported by the Fed. Government and does not, in any way, contribute to the Operating Deficit.  Monday, among other things, I will provide a sample letter that can be used to write to your Representative and Senators.  See you Monday.

Floyd  

SOCIAL SECURITY PART 7

WELCOME TO OPINIONS  BASED  ON  FACTS (OBOF)

          OVERVIEW                                Published Dec.28, 2010

          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. 24, 2011

          SOCIAL SECURITY PART 5    Published Jan. 31, 2011

          SOCIAL SECURITY PART 6    Published Feb. 07, 2011

          SOCIAL SECURITY PART 7    Published Feb. 14, 2011

SOCIAL SECURITY PART 7

BELIEVE ME you are never to old to learn.  This has been a real learning week for me. 

If you have been reading my pervious blogs you know that my answer to keeping Social Security (SS) solvent did not increase the National Debt.  My thought was that since the Special Governments Bonds, that have been placed in the SS Trust Fund when the Government took money out of the Trust Fund, were a part of National Debt, the Government could simply borrow money from the public market, pay off the Bonds in the Trust Fund and all would be cancelled out. 

In one of the previous SS parts, I said something to the effect that no one has told me that this plan was not workable.  WELL SOMEONE HAS and that someone is Dr. Allen W. Smith Ph.D.  You know from previous parts, that I have worked with Dr. Smith for sometime now and I have the greatest respect for him and his work.  He has said it so well, that I won't even try to paraphrase.  In his usual clear style, it is extremely interesting and I want you to be sure and read it. 

            Hi Floyd,

Thanks for your comments.  You are correct that the money owed to Social Security is counted as a part of the national debt, but it is in a different category.  As you can see from the information below, the $14 trillion total national debt is made up of approximately $9.4 trillion of "debt held by the public," plus approximately $4.6 trillion of "Intra-governmental Holdings".

 The Debt to the Penny and Who Holds It

Current	Debt Held by the Public	Intra-governmental Holdings	Total Public Debt Outstanding
02/10/2011	9,455,138,178,100.21	4,628,207,587,981.94	14,083,345,766,082.15

The $9.4 trillion of Debt Held by the Public is default proof.  It is in the form of public-issue, marketable U.S. Treasury bonds that are traded on world financial markets.  If the government were to ever default on any of that portion of the debt, it would create panic in financial markets around the world, and it would permanently tarnish the reputation and credit-worthiness of the United States government.  Therefore, we can be absolutely sure that the government cannot and will not ever default on any of its public-issue, marketable bonds.   

The Social Security debt is another matter.  The Congress and the President, together, have the Constitutional power to declare the Social Security debt null and void at any time. 

 One of the least known facts about Social Security is that, although the government does have a moral obligation to pay Social Security benefits to those who have earned them, the government does not have a legal obligation to do so.

In a 1960 ruling by the United States Supreme Court, the court ruled that nobody has a “contractual earned right“ to Social Security benefits. Section 1104 of the 1935 Social Security Act specifically states, “The right to alter, amend, or repeal any provision of this Act is hereby reserved to the Congress.”

According to the above strong language, Congress could do whatever it wanted to do with regard to changing or even eliminating Social Security. Some did not take the language seriously because they thought it was probably unconstitutional.

However, in 1960, in the case of Fleming v. Nestor, the Supreme Court upheld the denial of benefits to Nestor, even though he had contributed to the program for 19 years and was already receiving benefits.  In its ruling, the Supreme Court established the principle that entitlement to Social Security benefits “is not a contractual right.”

As a result of the 1960 Supreme Court ruling, the future of Social Security is totally in the hands of Congress and the President. They have the legal authority to amend any and all parts of the Social Security Act, as well as the authority to either increase or decrease Social Security benefits.

 Another problem is that, the more money the United States borrows from the outside world, the higher the interest rate it will have to pay.  In addition, the Chinese and others have expressed concern about the credit-worthiness of the United States. What happens if we reach a point where lenders are unwilling to loan as much money as we need to borrow?"  Since much of Social Security surplus revenue ended up in the pockets of the super rich in the form of income tax cuts, I think the looted money should be repaid from a special tax imposed on the rich who received the benefits.

N E W   B A L L  G A M E

I don't mean to make light of the seriousness of the SS problem by referring to it as a game.  It isn't, of course.  The heading is only a lead in to what I am now going to say. 

This is now new, because what I have been suggesting be done, is wrong.  I had not realized the different categories of the debt.  However, I have not been wrong, as far as what we all must do.  We still must write letters and make calls to let our legislators know, that we know, what has happened to the FICA money and that it must be replaced.  Money that hard-working people paid thinking they would get an insurance benefit at a given age.  Remember, FICA is FEDERAL INSUIRANCE CONTRIBUTION ACCOUNT.  How much more plain can you get, that this is an insurance program and should be treated as such. 

Congress can do whatever it wants to do, as Dr. Smith has told us above.  But we must let Congress know how their constituents feel.  Fortunately, our President has said that there is to be no change in Social Security.  I sure hope he sticks to that.  However, even that does not fix the problem for future years.      See you next week

Floyd

SOCIAL SECURITY PART 6

HELLO WORLD

I don't know why I have been starting my messages with HELLO WORLD.  The world is not interested in what I have to say.  Only people in the United States, maybe.  So, in the future, I am going to drop that heading.

OPINIONS  BASED  ON  FACTS

          OVERVIEW                                Published Dec. 28, 2010

          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. 24, 2011

          SOCIAL SECURITY PART 5    Published Jan. 31, 2011

          SOCIAL SECURITY PART 6    Published Feb. 07, 2011

SOCIAL SECURITY PART 6

FOLKS, I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY TO YOU TO TRY AND GET YOUR ATTENTION.  WHAT I HAVE BEEN SAYING IS TRUE, BASED ON FACTS THAT YOU CAN CHECK OUT FOR YOURSELF.  IT IS GOING TO AFFECT YOU.

THIS STUFF IS TRULY IMPORTANT,

IMPORTANT FOR YOU - NOT ME.

I suppose you would then ask, well why are you bothering to do this if it isn't important to you?  My answer is that, it is important to me, not for me.  Whatever happens with Social Security, I don't think, will effect me.  That's probably what I should have said.  It will effect my children and grandchildren and most of you and yours.

It's important to me because I care about my country and all our people.  Corny?  Maybe, but it is the way I feel.  More than that, I simply can't stand the misleading and down right fraud, that our Government has done. 

Now, don't misunderstand my statement about our Government committing fraud.  I love our Government. It is the best in the world.  Remember, DEMOCRACY IS A VERY POOR FORM OF GOVERNMENT, BUT, I WOULD REMIND YOU NEVER TO FORGET THAT ALL THE OTHERS ARE SO MUCH WORSE.  (From "Slattery's People" TV drama.)

Maybe some of you have been reading my Blog and are not concerned or maybe you are concerned, but don't know just what to say to me about this SS problem.  If you are concerned, but don't know what you can do about it or what you can say to me, let me give you some food for thought.

You could tell me that you don't know what you could do about all this or that you just don't believe this.  You could say that you have read all 6 of the SS parts and don't understand them.  That would mean a great deal to me, because, that would tell me that I have to say these things in a different manner.  You could tell me that you are convinced that the Fed. Government will do whatever it wants to do no matter what the people say.  You could tell me that you just don't want to be bothered with this. 

All of these things would be a great deal of help to me and what Dr. Smith Ph.D. and I are trying to get done. 

IF YOU WILL MAKE SOME COMMENTS TO ME, LIKE ANY OF THE ABOVE OR OTHERS, AND IF YOU WANT TO GIVE ME YOUR E-MAIL LINK, I WOULD BE HAPPY TO TALK WITH YOU DIRECT ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL OR ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE THAT I HAVE NOT ADDRESSED.   Your e-mail address will go no further than me and I will not use it to bug you about things either.

CONGRESS RECONVENES FEBRUARY 14, 2011.

It is quite probable that they will immediately take up work on the budget and cutting spending.  If that is the case, Social Security will pop up quickly. 

If we don't start working together, in the very near future, the consequences are not going to be anything that we'll like.

I know it is hard to believe that our honored elected officials would do what they have done, but please, please believe me, they have done this. 

The time has come when something is going to happen, it has to and if the people don't get together and make it known what has happened, social security, as we know it, IS OVER.

Melodramatic? yes, maybe, but I don't think I am over stating the present situation.

 I am going to list, in short form, what has happened and what can be done about it.  Read my other 5 parts about Social Security to really understand the detail.

THE PRESENT SITUATION

1.     Starting 25 years ago, the Fed. Government took, and is still taking, all FICA money, not needed to pay present benefits, from the Social Security Trust Fund, which is illegal to do, per the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990.

2.    The Government has taken out 2+ trillion dollars from the Trust Fund and is, now, taking out approximately 400 million dollars a day.

3.    The Congress, reconvenes Feb. 14 and one thing they want to do is to drastically cut Social Security.  In fact, some want to do away with it entirely.

4.    There are two problems that must be fixed.  REPLACE THE MONEY THAT  HAS  BEEN TAKEN  OUT  AND  STOP TAKING  OUT ANY MORE.

5.    The money can be replaced without increasing the National Debt.

6.    All of us, together, can get these problems solved by writing and calling our Representatives and Senators.  It has been proven in the past that this approach does get results.

See you next week with more information on what we can do and when.

Floyd

PS.  An additional thought.  I have been making an issue of the difference between an Entitlement program and an Insurance program. 

The difference is that an Entitlement program is one for which the Fed. Government provides the money from General Revenue for implementation and on-going need.

An Insurance program is one for which the insured pays the money for that insurance and for that insurance only.  In the case of Social Security, that money, by law, cannot be used for anything else.  Also, in the case of SS, the insured pays the insurance premiums through payroll deductions called FICA (Federal Insurance Contribution Account.)