So, Social Security is an "entitlement" these days, eh? I'll make a deal with you.?
Dear Fearless Leaders. If you think Social Security is an "ENTITLEMENT", all you have to do is give me BACK the money that has been taken from me (and my employers) in its name, since 1964. I'll happily invest it myself, purchase health insurance, long term care insurance, and get the hell out of the system. I promise NEVER to ask for any benefits. IS IT A DEAL?
2011-09-08T08:12:38Z
Great answers ( even the negative ones ) to a simplistic question about a COMPLEX subject. Thank you all. I am not pleased that some groups are wanting to change the rules of the ( pyramid ) game after I have played all these years. Let's hope that the system can survive in a VIABLE fashion.
LV4262011-09-08T07:37:53Z
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I understand where you are coming from, believe me, I do.
But let's say your investments tank. There you are, living in a box on the street, pissing into the nearby sewer.
You mean to tell me you * really * won't ask for a handout?
Again, read my first sentence. It's not like I trust the government to watch my money, either, but I cannot see most people investing their money wisely, were it all handed over to them.
The individuals who failed to invest wisely will, despite their promises to the contrary, come knocking on doors for help when they're sleeping on a steel grate.
Ugh .. I sound like a liberal, but I just know I'll get hosed , bailing out the twits who invested poorly.
Actually I agree with you... Give me back my money and I'll go away. That being said, Social Security is an entitlement program because you (currently) are guaranteed a set amount for the rest of your life, regardless of how much you put in.
In Flemming v. Nestor (1961), the Supreme Court ruled that you do not gain any property right by paying into Social Security, because it is not a true pension or annuity plan, but an entitlement combined with an unrelated tax.
So any future Congress can raise, lower or eliminate benefits for any person, or classes of persons, without refunding a dime. Justice Black dissented saying that people think of it like a pension and it should act like one.
That is what needs to change. We don't need privatization that will destroy it the first time the market crashes. We need Social Security to become a true old-age pension plan, invested in regular interest-bearing T-bills, that you can vest in and is actuarially sound.
The reason social security is an "entitlement" is because you are entitled to receive the benefits of what you paid for all your life. Much in the same way your paycheck is an "entitlement" you are entitled to receive payment for the work you performed.
SS is called an entitlement because you did not pay for SS,,,,, you paid a SS tax, and a tax is not a contribution.
The government considers SS payments to be a tax and being a tax it can be increased, or eliminated and you have no recourse. SS can fold up today and the government is not required by law to give you anything.
SS is being used today for so many things it was never intended for and many of these unintended pay out are to people that have paid zero dollars to SS. So that is where the entitlement title comes in.
Now I do agree with you about paying in to SS your whole life and now I will take my SS check weather I need it or not.
I do have my own retirement plan so I will probably just donate my SS check to the TEA party every month.