The problem today comes from Progressives in Congress being too money hungry for programs they deem are 'necessary' which in turn inserts more Government control in our everyday lives. Their idea that the Federal Government needs to be a nanny state is wrong. Did Progressive Democrats ever hear of the term 'personal responsibility?' Congress also needs to stop mandating programs to the states with no money to run the programs.
The Federal Government is totally out of control with spending and Progressive Democrats in Congress approve the agency budgets without one thought to what an agency needs compared to what they ask which sometimes is millions of dollars apart. This latest fiasco of healthcare is only going to add to the deficit and bankrupt states with more mandates. Congress forgot a long time ago it is our tax dollars not their ATM to spend at will.
No wonder Obama froze raises for Social Security as he must have known it was going to be paying out more then taking in this year. Did Congress freeze their salaries -- NO -- Democrats wouldn't think of not giving themselves raises. Since 2006 when the Democrats took over Congress and Progressives were put in charge it has been a runaway freight train for spending. It was bad enough before but now it is totally out of control.
Bush Tax Cuts were welcome, and the No Child Left Behind mandate was not so Pres Bush was 50/50 and then Social Security was the next agenda item. In all fairness to President Bush and Congressional Republicans, they tried to reform Social Security because they knew this day was coming when the Federals Government would pay out more then it takes in, but the Democrats in Congress stopped any changes to Social Security. Their rallying cry that AARP became the cheerleader for was 'don't touch Social Security' all the while the program was soon to go in the red. Democrats kept alive there was some magic 'lockbox' for Social Security when there was not as money paid into Social Security is put in the general fund. Maybe if the Democrats had listened when Pres Bush first proposed tackling Social Security, we wouldn't be in this position today.
Seniors are getting hit from all sides. Their fee for Medicare Part "B" rose but they received no raise when Obama personally stopped the raise. Now they are discovering that the Feds want to take $500B away from Medicare. If seniors were smart, they would tell AARP who has sold them out to take a hike. AARP is nothing but a Democrat cheerleading organization who is loyal to the Progressive Democrats and not to their members.
Putting Civil Service in the Medicare program in the 70's was supposed to 'save' Medicare but it hasn't. A lot of Civil Service retirees don't even take Part B but keep their Federal Health Insurance so they cannot be blamed for Medicare going belly-up as they paid into Medicare but are receiving little in return. Then we have those that want health benefits like Civil Service. A Family plan through Blue Cross/Blue Shield is over $350 a month, yet the media and some groups make it sound like it is free.
In the late 80's the Congress decided they had not gone far enough and put Federal Civil Service new hires in the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) where they would pay into Social Security and their retirement plan would be a combination from Civil Service retirement and Social Security along with the Thrift Savings Plan. That put more people on the Social Security rolls. Employees had a chance of staying with the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or going to FERS. Most people opted to stay with CSRS because of some of the restrictions on FERS. Just wait until the FERS employees start retiring on Social Security, and you will see the deficit numbers rise more.
After putting new hires of Federal employees into FERS, the Government went after other organizations who were exempt from Social Security -- public employees including state and municipalities, universities, etc. To 'save' Social Security, the Congress decided to do away with those exemptions and put them in Social Security to get more money into the Federal Treasury. Here again we had the famous "lockbox" scenario that was a farce. Some of those workers forced into Social Security in the late 80's are now starting to draw Social Security so it was fine while they were paying in but now they are retiring the SSA is paying out more then it is taking in is happening at a record rate. This is in addition to the bad economy where workers who were laid off decided to draw social security early.
This whole Social Security debacle is owned by the Progressive Democrats who refused to work with Republicans to solve the problem when President Bush was President. Once again we are seeing why Progressive Democrats in charge of Congress and the White House are so bad for the economy. They love to tax and spend which is not the way to grow the economy as demonstrated with the Reagan tax cuts in the 80's.
Social Security Is Running Out of Money
Real Clear Markets
03/30/2010
Investors Business Daily.
Social Security's chief actuary reports that the social safety net will run a deficit for 2010, nine years earlier than predicted. Put down that big gavel, Madam Speaker, we're about to hit the iceberg.
No sooner had House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, carrying the gavel used when Medicare was enacted, taken a victory lap around the Capitol Building after passage of the health care bill than did the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration report that his part of the social safety net had a big hole in it and would run a deficit for all of 2010.
Stephen C. Goss said that payments rose "unexpectedly" during the economic downturn as jobs disappeared and people feeling no hope and seeing little change opted to apply for benefits sooner than planned. Revenues also shrank due to fewer paychecks to tax.
Failure of the stimulus to keep unemployment under 8%, as the administration promised, has taken its toll on the entitlement. According to Goss, the administration expected a quicker, stronger recovery from the financial crisis. Officials foresaw an average unemployment rate of 8.2% in 2009 and 8.8% this year, though unemployment is hovering near 10%.
The 2010 shortfall is expected to be $29 billion, but it's still early. It could get bigger as the economy collapses under the weight of increased debt and deficits spurred on by the new taxes and economic disincentives of newly passed ObamaCare. Then, looming ahead, is the angel of economic death known as cap-and-trade.
Excerpt: Read more at realclearmarkets.com
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