On Sat, Nov 20, 2010 at 1:18 AM, Robert Munn <cfmuns...@gmail.com> wrote: > > The numbers show quite clearly that within decades the fund goes negative > and never comes back. Medicare might be a more immediate problem, but > practical considerations will eventually cap fees, doctors visits, drugs, > procedures, and all sort of other things in Medicare. By contrast, because > Social Security amounts to straight transfer payments from working age > people to retired people, there is no way to limit activity or otherwise > control costs like in Medicare. The only way to keep the program going is to > bleed the taxpayer more and more until there is no money left. What then?
To recap: there are several options on the table which include various combinations of raising the income limit to which fica applies (hardly bleeding the taxpayer more until there is no money left), raising the retirement age slightly, and tiering benefit payouts based on income. Some of the options don't require raising taxes at all. There are other options that have been discussed that aren't even on the scenarios presented by the Trustee boards. As for the ponzi scheme attribution you make, it is true in the sense that the government tends to borrow against the fund. I agree that that should be disallowed. Just go and look at all the projections about the contribution of various programs to future debt. Entitlement programs other than Medicare are a small percentage. Medicare presents by far the largest contribution by huge amounts. That's one of the reasons that Obama and Democrats pledged to try for healthcare reform. Of course, they largely failed at that task as the bill that passed did little to curb Medicare expenses in the future. Still, you want to make a dent in entitlement spending for the future, you need to tackle healthcare reform. Social Security is relatively easy to fix out past 2034. There are several known options on the table. Medicare and the drag of health care expenses on our economy? That is much more difficult and more pressing. Costs are rising faster and there aren't any solutions on the table to be chosen from at this point. The Social Security "debate" is a distraction. It's arguing over who is going to kill a cockroach while ignoring the rabid dog in the room with you. Judah ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:332019 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
