Omg fica

[Brigandier]

How did the government ever squander the fica tax? Every pay check takes it out, how did the governenment piss away the FICA tax?

 

[jhu]

By spending it on medicare and social security? What do I win?

 

[Brigandier]

By spending it on medicare and social security? What do I win?

Nothing, because that doesn't describe where the tax has gone. A bit of is spent on SS and medicare, but this tax has been constant and on refundable, where has the rest gone?

 

[jhu]

Uh, it gets put in a trust fund that pays out to people?

 

[bfdd]

Like a large majority of our taxes it's pissed away.

 

[jhu]

Like a large majority of our taxes it's pissed away.

Don't tell that to the old folks...

 

[bfdd]

Don't tell that to the old folks...

Anyone who relies solely on social security in order to survive after retirement obviously made big mistakes in their life, but that has nothing to do with my comment. My comment was wide with no specifics in mind.

 

[boomerang]

The program has been expanded over the years to pay benefits to people and to cover circumstances that it was never intended to cover. It was meant to provide a safety net. It has become a program that pays death benefits to minor children, the sole means of support for many and has been expanded to pay benefits to those that never contributed to the system to name just a few.

With large surpluses just sitting there, the money became irresistible to politicians and they "borrowed" the money and wrote IOU's. It's easy to do so, because they just passed the burden of making it healthy onto the next guy.

Situations like this are why I can't understand the mindset of people that put all their faith in the government. Their track record is poor, they can't be trusted to do the right thing and there is mountains of evidence to show this. Yet with each new generation, the lessons must be taught.

Every new generation fully embraces the ideals of socialism without understanding the full implications. Few have the interest or take the time to research and understand that it has never worked. But when you're taught only the evils of capitalism, the opposite must be "the answer".

Cue the defenders.

 

[bfdd]

The program has been expanded over the years to pay benefits to people and to cover circumstances that it was never intended to cover. It was meant to provide a safety net. It has become a program that pays death benefits to minor children, the sole means of support for many and has been expanded to pay benefits to those that never contributed to the system to name just a few.

With large surpluses just sitting there, the money became irresistible to politicians and they "borrowed" the money and wrote IOU's. It's easy to do so, because they just passed the burden of making it healthy onto the next guy.

Situations like this are why I can't understand the mindset of people that put all their faith in the government. Their track record is poor, they can't be trusted to do the right thing and there is mountains of evidence to show this. Yet with each new generation, the lessons must be taught.

Every new generation fully embraces the ideals of socialism without understanding the full implications. Few have the interest or take the time to research and understand that it has never worked. But when you're taught only the evils of capitalism, the opposite must be "the answer".

Cue the defenders.

I just want to know why people don't want to take care of themselves for the most part. What happened to personal responsibility?

 

[WHAMPOM]

How did the government ever squander the fica tax? Every pay check takes it out, how did the governenment piss away the FICA tax?

You don't know? To fund the tax breaks of the rich. Look up the Reagan era "saving social security ." What an idea, !!!

 

[werepossum]

Up until Reagan the FICA money went into the general account and was spent. Reagan got through a bill requiring that FICA money be spent only on those programs for which it is legally collected. So now the excess money is spent on T-bills - as Boomerang says IOUs - which are held in those accounts.

Politicians will never be capable of resisting a large pile of money no matter how sensible the reason.

 

[djmartins]

You don't know? To fund the tax breaks of the rich. Look up the Reagan era "saving social security ." What an idea, !!!

Typical liberal response: untrue and emotional
We need to institute IQ tests to determine if someone is capable of voting.
THAT would stop the socialization of the US.

 

[umbrella39]

Typical liberal response: untrue and emotional
We need to institute IQ tests to determine if someone is capable of voting.
THAT would stop the socialization of the US.

We should institute IQ test to determine who is capable of posting here.
THAT would stop all the sock puppet accounts...

 

[Jhhnn]

Typical liberal response: untrue and emotional
We need to institute IQ tests to determine if someone is capable of voting.
THAT would stop the socialization of the US.

Nice ad-hom, standard state of denial along with it. Even as FICA taxes have gone up, top tier income taxes have gone down-

http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cach...ate&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a

http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/250.html

http://www.rationalrevolution.net/articles/american_income_taxation.htm

http://curiouscapitalist.blogs.time...hest-americans-and-their-terrible-tax-burden/

FICA taxes are insignificant to those at the top, since the non medicare portion affects only a very small % of their income, and none apply to capital gains.

Other factors to be considered are that offshoring began in earnest in the Reagan years, tending to shrink the domestic economy while increasing the investor class' share of income. Massive federal deficits have been required to "stimulate the economy", disguise the effect, other than during a few years at the end of the Clinton term.

The effects of offshoring and the world economy, "Trickle Down Economics" to benefit the lootocracy can't be sold w/o massive federal deficits. It's really just that simple, despite the emotional propagandizing by the mouthpieces of the far Right.

The truth, from Warren Buffet-

“There’s class warfare, all right,” Mr. Buffett said, “but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/business/yourmoney/26every.html

 

[Robor]

The program has been expanded over the years to pay benefits to people and to cover circumstances that it was never intended to cover. It was meant to provide a safety net. It has become a program that pays death benefits to minor children, the sole means of support for many and has been expanded to pay benefits to those that never contributed to the system to name just a few.

With large surpluses just sitting there, the money became irresistible to politicians and they "borrowed" the money and wrote IOU's. It's easy to do so, because they just passed the burden of making it healthy onto the next guy.

Situations like this are why I can't understand the mindset of people that put all their faith in the government. Their track record is poor, they can't be trusted to do the right thing and there is mountains of evidence to show this. Yet with each new generation, the lessons must be taught.

Every new generation fully embraces the ideals of socialism without understanding the full implications. Few have the interest or take the time to research and understand that it has never worked. But when you're taught only the evils of capitalism, the opposite must be "the answer".

Cue the defenders.

Alleged socialism again? You can stop - that horse is dead. There are plenty of non-'socialistic' programs that expanded the deficit with no plan on how to pay for them (IOU's). Why are these rarely mentioned by those who point the socialism finger?

 

[Robor]

Typical liberal response: untrue and emotional
We need to institute IQ tests to determine if someone is capable of voting.
THAT would stop the socialization of the US.

Another troll? WWYBYWB?

 

[Brainonska511]

Typical liberal response: untrue and emotional
We need to institute IQ tests to determine if someone is capable of voting.
THAT would stop the socialization of the US.

Fascist. They can only vote if they agree with your twisted ideology, right?

 

[Craig234]

Anyone who relies solely on social security in order to survive after retirement obviously made big mistakes in their life, but that has nothing to do with my comment. My comment was wide with no specifics in mind.

Before you get too carried away attacking SS, recall before SS 90% of elders lived in poverty.

 

[3chordcharlie]

I just want to know why people don't want to take care of themselves for the most part. What happened to personal responsibility?

True personal resposibility has never existed in recorded history. Everything runs through some form of social contract, whether implied or explicit. The conditions of that contract, like your credit card, change without notice, warning, choice, or compensation; witness trained, talented people who 15 years ago had a lifelong career, and today have skills which are obsolete.

None of this has anything to do with FICA, but neither did your post.

 

[Brigandier]

Before you get too carried away attacking SS, recall before SS 90% of elders lived in poverty.

This is true, but what happens when it bankrupts us? Instead of treating it like a safety net we treated it like slush fund, and the day will come where consequences will be paid. What happens if it collapses and produces a wave of poor old people?

 

[Jhhnn]

This is true, but what happens when it bankrupts us? Instead of treating it like a safety net we treated it like slush fund, and the day will come where consequences will be paid. What happens if it collapses and produces a wave of poor old people?

"It", SS, won't bankrupt us, but all the other federal debt may. If SS were the only federal debt, meeting SS obligations would be a cakewalk... The entirety of all SS trust funds comprises ~$3T of the total debt.

Like I offered earlier, deficits and debt have been used as a counter, a masking effect to increasing offshoring and shifting of income to the top. They also provide capitalists with a safe haven for their money, and artificially hold dollar value high, providing the same opportunity for foreign investors. A strong dollar is very good for offshoring capitalists- very good indeed.

Few people realize that SS trust obligations are lower priority than the rest of the debt. If push comes to shove, the govt will be forced to welch on SS in one fashion or another in order to pay the Chinese, the Saudis and wealthy American bondholders their due...

It'll be the perverse realization of the rightwing's "starve the beast" scenario...

 

[Brigandier]

"It", SS, won't bankrupt us, but all the other federal debt may. If SS were the only federal debt, meeting SS obligations would be a cakewalk... The entirety of all SS trust funds comprises ~$3T of the total debt.

Like I offered earlier, deficits and debt have been used as a counter, a masking effect to increasing offshoring and shifting of income to the top. They also provide capitalists with a safe haven for their money, and artificially hold dollar value high, providing the same opportunity for foreign investors. A strong dollar is very good for offshoring capitalists- very good indeed.

Few people realize that SS trust obligations are lower priority than the rest of the debt. If push comes to shove, the govt will be forced to welch on SS in one fashion or another in order to pay the Chinese, the Saudis and wealthy American bondholders their due...

It'll be the perverse realization of the rightwing's "starve the beast" scenario...

Nah, if worse comes to worse SS will always get money off the presses for it, but that will adversely affect inflation and other measures of wealth.

 

[Jhhnn]

Nah, if worse comes to worse SS will always get money off the presses for it, but that will adversely affect inflation and other measures of wealth.

That's one way to welch on SS, as I offered- destroy the value of the payments that recipients will receive. That's a last resort, because that'll affect the other bondholders as well. I'm sure other ways will be employed prior to that- freezing benefits, means testing, radically increased rates on Medicare copays and insurance...

The only way to manage the total debt is to monetize it, because there's no real economic recovery likely. Recovery from the tech bust was entirely contrived, based on deficits, cheap money and financial flimflams, paying off old debt with new, stripping the assets from viable companies, saddling them with debt, selling them back to the public... The US is being stripped of productive assets, so when we're forced to end deficits, we'll find out just how broke we really are, and just how wealthy and powerful America's wealthiest have become...

"Trickle down" is what happens when they piss down our collective leg, tell us it's raining, and enough fools believe 'em to let 'em have their way... it's been happening for 30 years, a form of looting known as the Reagan revolution...

 

[Brigandier]

That's one way to welch on SS, as I offered- destroy the value of the payments that recipients will receive. That's a last resort, because that'll affect the other bondholders as well. I'm sure other ways will be employed prior to that- freezing benefits, means testing, radically increased rates on Medicare copays and insurance...

The only way to manage the total debt is to monetize it, because there's no real economic recovery likely. Recovery from the tech bust was entirely contrived, based on deficits, cheap money and financial flimflams, paying off old debt with new, stripping the assets from viable companies, saddling them with debt, selling them back to the public... The US is being stripped of productive assets, so when we're forced to end deficits, we'll find out just how broke we really are, and just how wealthy and powerful America's wealthiest have become...

"Trickle down" is what happens when they piss down our collective leg, tell us it's raining, and enough fools believe 'em to let 'em have their way... it's been happening for 30 years, a form of looting known as the Reagan revolution...

Lol, I've personally viewed trickle down economics as the clap being worth it because the whore was a good lay.

 

[JS80]

Typical liberal response: untrue and emotional
We need to institute IQ tests to determine if someone is capable of voting.
THAT would stop the socialization of the US.

Give him a break. He's a UCLA/Berkeley reject that went to UCSD.