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 Washington
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
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
Floyd,
ReplyDeleteYour link was sent to me this morning. After reading this post I read all your previous post on Social Security. I must say that i will be a regular follower of your blog. It is good to get facts laid out as they are. We have had too much "matador flag media" since Ronald Reagan showed the politicians how keep the people's attention on the red flag, thereby creating opportunities divert our funds and at the same time legislate the greatness of our country into the hands of global interest. Now that most of the production and jobs are abroad they are trying to make us believe they are creating jobs for us. If they had not raided our funds and had kept our jobs here there would be no shortfall in SSI.
HBJ
This is a test for a comment.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteAs 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.
Allen W. Smith, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, Emeritus
Eastern Illinois University
Website: www.thebiglie.net
Email: ironwoodas@aol.com
Phone: 1-800-840-6812
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST FUND
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Allen W. Smith, Ph.D.
“Let the people know the truth and the country is safe.”—Abraham Lincoln
Letting the people know the truth may be best for the country, but it is certainly not in the best interest of politicians who have something to hide. In the case of most past scandals in this country, such as Watergate, it was in the best interest of one party to keep it secret, but the other party stood to benefit from its exposure. But what about a major scandal in which both political parties are equally guilty? What if exposing the truth would do major political damage to the images of both parties, in the eyes of American voters?
Such is the case with the Social Security trust fund. For more than 25 years, surplus Social Security revenue, generated by the 1983 payroll tax hike, has been diverted into the general revenue fund and used as part of the funding of general government operations. This has occurred under five presidents—two Democrats and three Republicans. All of the money was supposed to be saved and invested in marketable Treasury bonds, but none of it was saved or invested in anything.
The raiding of the Social Security trust fund is an absolute fact that anyone can verify quite easily by checking the federal budgets for the past 25 years. Simply add up total expenditures by the federal government, including the payment of Social Security benefits, for each year. Then add up the total federal revenue, including the Social Security payroll tax revenue. You will find that the federal government spent all of its general revenue, plus the surplus Social Security revenue, and still had to borrow additional money from the public just to pay its bills. The government has spent all the surplus Social Security revenue on general government operations, and replaced the money with government IOUs.
The IOUs in the trust fund are not marketable, and they cannot be converted into cash with which to pay benefits. Most Americans don’t know about this, because the government does not want the public to know about it. Furthermore, the mainstream media tends to honor the government’s wish to keep the truth from the public. I have been trying to expose the Social Security fraud for more than a decade, with little cooperation from the mainstream media. One notable exception is Allan Sloan, Senior Editor at Large, at Fortune Magazine. In his August 10, 2010 Washington Post column, Allan Sloan quoted me and referred to one of my books. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/09/AR2010080905559.html
Copyright 2011 Allen W. Smith
Floyd ,
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work we need much help getting the strength we need to put an end to our elected lawmakers forcing us us pay to be raped and robed by them. If enough people wake up and see what is going on things could change.
Floyd this is a test If it works by this message I will thentyoe a comment
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