Government Promises to Cut Social Security in Urgent Compromise

Activist Post

It's official, national austerity measures are here!  As Wisconsin protesters fill the streets because of lost rights and benefits to workers, the nation is gearing up to face similar losses with social security being cut.  Comedian George Carlin warned us that this day would come:


"Now they're coming for your social security money . . . they want it back so they can give it to 
their criminal friends on Wall Street." -- George Carlin. 

The debate has moved from whether or not to cut social security, to how many cuts, how much, and when they'll start.  Threatened with the prospect of a government shutdown, Democrats are pushing for compromise by agreeing to cut social security to avert a manufactured "shutdown" disaster.

For years the government has had no problem raiding the surplus in the social security fund to pay for wars, bank bailouts, General Motors, and a slew of other unfunded giveaways.  Yet, now, as they claim bankruptcy, they seek to take even more from the program.

As Marti Oakley recently pointed out:

The federal government DOES NOT fund Social Security!  Social Security funds the federal government.

Since the Johnson Administration of the '60s, the S.S. fund has been plundered and the surplus from the fund used to finance wars and the daily operations of the federal government. This came as a result of Johnson declaring that these surplus funds would be added to the general fund.  Once there, the funds could be used for anything and everything.

Now, seniors and future generations that had nothing to do with creating the national debt and massive shortfalls in social security are going to pay the price.  Seniors have already had cost of living increases to their SS checks frozen for the last two years.  This has been especially painful given the double-digit inflation to necessary goods like food and energy, and services like healthcare.

It seems the government is going to take and take until the people push back and say that enough is enough.  Again, the people are not at fault and yet they are being treated like tax slaves to bailout the slave masters.  It doesn't matter whether you believe in cutting entitlement programs or not.  The overall equation for the average citizen has tipped so far in the favor of the elites who orchestrated this mess, that it's time to draw the line in the sand.

The perceived debt problems will not be solved by cutting social security while the wars continue and the banks get a blank check from the taxpayer.  If we aren't ready to fight for their deserved benefits now, then we may deserve the absolute looting that is occurring.

RELATED ARTICLE:
Budget Cuts Will Speed Up Engineered Economic Collapse

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Social Security is not an “entitlement” program

Marti Oakley, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

A long coveted cut to Social Security and Medicare is going to happen.  This will occur for reasons none of the politicians in the District of Criminals will ever speak about publicly.  There is far more at stake here than what the District terms an “unfunded liability”.  When you hear those in the District speak about this liability, you need to understand what they are really saying.  This is an intra-governmental debt, meaning; a debt accrued within the government. It is a liability to the federal government because it is owed to “you” and they have no way of paying it back without taxing you more heavily.  You are the “full faith and credit” of the United States corporation.  That means government runs up the bills and we pay it.

The federal government now includes Social Security in its debt portfolio, not because the program is insolvent or ever was, and not because the Federal government has to fund it in any sense (SS is funded by your investments) but because the Federal government has stolen so much money from the fund, then sold special treasury securities on those stolen funds to countries like China to finance the massive debt accruing across the board.  Since there is no chance the national debt can ever be repaid, the Fed is now in the position of finagling the discharge of internal debt from the books.  Look at it as a form of back door bankruptcy.
 
The federal government DOES NOT fund Social Security!  Social Security funds the federal government.

Since the Johnson Administration of the 60s, the S.S. fund has been plundered and the surplus from the fund used to finance wars and the daily operations of the federal government. This came as a result of Johnson declaring that these surplus funds would be added to the general fund.  Once there, the funds could be used for anything and everything.


As only one example:  The Bush2 Administration had to cover the loss of revenues from the welfare tax cuts to the upper 3%.  It was imperative that the administration be able to cover up the loss by showing a presumed increase in revenues that was supposed to have resulted from this preferential treatment of the uber wealthy.  Surplus funds were stripped from SS, along with any unused funding from any other program, then added to the general revenue column as though these increases were generated as an actual result of the welfare tax cuts. These stolen funds with their new designation as “revenue” were then used as proof that these welfare tax cuts were beneficial. Its all a lie, and one the middle and working classes are about to pay the bill on.

Every administration has, without exception used the same tactics to hide preferential treatment of their buddies; to cover up expenditures for things most of us would find highly objectionable.
 Most of the American public is totally clueless as to the deceptive accounting practices being used to fool them, and most still have no idea that the budget presented to the public is the simplified budget and only includes carefully presented revenues and expenses meant to portray a specific picture of the nations financial dealings. And many more of us are totally unaware that there is another budget referred to as the “unified budget” which shows all revenues from every source and every expense of any kind and a budget which, if we were to view it and understand the true implications, would most likely scare the beetlejuice out of most of us.

Note** Even the unified budget does not itemize, contain or otherwise acknowledge the funds diverted to “black ops”…no one can know that for some reason.  Black ops are the clandestine operations performed by various organizations within the government and usually the CIA and are said to cost the country billions each year.

The stolen SS funds are now approaching 3 trillion.  That is 3 trillion dollars of FICA taxes gleaned from generations of workers for a specific purpose that the federal government stole and then sold special treasury notes on.   This is a debt owed by the federal government (USA Corp) to the investors (all you workers) that they never had any intention of paying back and is why it is referred to as an “unfunded liability”.  It is a massive cash liability for a debt owed to generations of working Americans.  As the amount stolen from the investments of workers grows so does the unfunded liability incurred.

At this point, one or more things must happen to protect the thieves.

In what can only be described as a another case of nationalizing the losses and privatizing the profits, we have the District career criminals calling for raising the age of retirement as one option to curtail the number of people able to access their investments in Social Security.  This means fewer people leaving the job market and conversely, fewer jobs available to those entering the job market.  A really crappy idea considering the millions out of work now and only one job available for every five applicants.

Another option proffered is cutting the amount of benefits.  This one is really sneaky!  You are supposed to think that by cutting benefits this will somehow offset any future shortfalls in Social Security.  Here’s what it really does:  It increases the amount of SS surpluses accrued because it lowers the amount being paid out of the fund and increases the funds available to the ongoing theft of your investment.  While millions are out of work and not investing in Social Security, this scam will reduce payouts while maintaining virtually the same level of surplus the Federal government is going to steal.

The favorite of course is to collapse Social Security altogether.

“Therefore, Obama’s commission may recommend a variety of tactics to strip the program: instituting benefit cuts, increasing the age in which benefits are received, and introducing a limited option for personal accounts. Also possible is the implementation of a tiny, ineffectual tax on the rich to give the illusion that everybody is making sacrifices.”

I am always amazed at the hyperventilating of those who scream “It’s a ponzi scheme!”  I have news for you; so is the stock market and so are your insurance policies.  You invest in each of these with full expectation of reaping more than you sowed.  In each of these situations, a system of perpetual funding is devised with a promise of future profitable expectations by you.  The difference is this; Social Security is not operated with the intent to profit, but the insurance company and stock market is.

Social Security is NOT an unfunded liability.  Social Security is very well funded by American workers.  The federal government is the unfunded liability but covers this liability by stealing the retirement investments of workers.  Yet there are those out there who are now trying to reframe this issue by claiming that there never was a Social Security trust fund, and, that FICA taxes collected to cover your investment in that fund aren’t really investment taxes..this is just an additional tax levied on you for some vague reason and therefore its quite alright for the federal government to seize these funds for other purposes.

Many people believe that Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is the same as Social Security.  Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a Federal income supplement program funded by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes).http://www.ssa.gov/ssi/  The program is administered by the Social Security administration so that the costs of administration are shifted to SS, but the funding for claims is not from your investment in Social Security.

Those who are beating the drums for ending social security as they allow themselves to be consumed by political rhetoric that bears little resemblance to the truth, need to do some real research on the actual benefits of this program as opposed to allowing those doing the talking to paint this program as an “entitlement” and some form of welfare that was unearned.  Social Security is an investor funded program that has also been used to fund the government, it is NOT an entitlement program nor was it intended to be any form of welfare.  The “entitlement” the government speaks of would be more aptly applied to them; they feeling they are entitled to avail themselves of our investments and use that money for whatever they choose to.  This amounts to a second and third round of taxes as many of our payees are forced to pay taxes on their benefits each year after being taxed over their working lifetime to fund their investment.  The third tax is exemplified in the theft of surplus funds the government can’t pay back.

Extra demands are put on Social Security as illegal aliens are granted access to the fund without actually having contributed to it to any degree.  An illegal alien from Mexico, can come here, work under an admitted assumed name, work as little as three quarters and return to Mexico and make a claim against Social Security. The summary of the GAO report contained this statement:

GAO report
“Under the Social Security Act, all earnings from employment in the United States count towards earning social security benefits, regardless of the lawful presence of the worker, his or her citizenship status, or country of residence. Immigrants [both legal and otherwise] become entitled to benefits from unauthorized work if they can prove that the earnings and related contributions belong to them. However, they cannot collect such benefits unless [or until] they are either legally present in the United States [hence the Administration's Guest Worker Program], or living in a country where SSA is authorized to pay them their benefits. [Hence an SSA office in Mexico City] Mexico is such a country.”

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03993.pdf

The upshot of all of this is: Social Security is not only paying for wars, government expenses, and other non-related purposes, it is also covering the loss of revenues resulting from the welfare tax rates given to the uber wealthy and to fund illegal immigration, an activity that is bankrupting communities across the country. At the same time it is still producing a surplus above and beyond all claims of any kind made against it, although if a real effort isn’t made soon to create and secure jobs here in the US, many things along with Social Security are going to disappear.

And many of you think this would be just great as long as long as you are left untouched by it all, and many of you for some reason believe you will somehow be exempt; that your life will be unaltered or unaffected.  I have news for you: No one will be spared.
_____________________________________
Resources: 
Mexico Totalization Agreement
http://www.tscl.org/NewContent/Totalization_Agreement.pdf
GAO pdf.
Proposed Totalization Agreement with Mexico Presents Unique Challenges
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03993.pdf
SSI Fund
http://www.ssa.gov/ssi/
Special Treasuries Securities
http://www.ustreas.gov/ffb/
Social Security funds stolen by government
http://ppjg.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/social-security-money-stolen-by-government/
The Drive to eliminate Social Security in America
http://ppjg.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/the-drive-to-eliminate-social-security-in-america/
The real unfunded liability —the federal government 2008
http://ppjg.wordpress.com/2008/10/25/the-real-unfunded-liability%e2%80%a6the-federal-government/

Marti Oakley is a political activist and former op-ed columnist for the St Cloud Times in Minnesota. She was a member of the Times Writer’s Group until she resigned in September of 07. She is neither Democrat nor Republican, since neither party is representative of the American people. She says what she thinks, means what she says, and is known for being outspoken. She is hopeful that the American public will wake up to what is happening to our beloved country . . . little of it is left.  Her website is The PPJ Gazette 

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AP Exclusive: Raising retirement age hurts poor

AP – Trays of printed social security checks
 wait to be mailed Friday, Feb. 11, 2005 from
 the U.S. Treasury's 

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Raising the retirement age for Social Security would disproportionately hurt low-income workers and minorities, and increase disability claims by older people unable to work, government auditors told Congress.

The projected spike in disability claims could harm Social Security's finances because disability benefits typically are higher than early retirement payments, the Government Accountability Office concluded.

The report, obtained by The Associated Press ahead of its scheduled release Friday, provides fodder for those opposed to raising theeligibility age for benefits, as proposed by the leaders of President Barack Obama's deficit commission.

[Related: Get a bigger Social Security check]

"There's more to consider than simply how much money the program would save by raising the retirement age," said Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging. The report shows an unequal effect on certain groups of people, he said Thursday, and many of them "would have little choice but to turn to the broken disability program."

Under current law, people can start drawing reduced, early retirement benefits from Social Security at age 62. Full benefits are available at 66, a threshold gradually increasing to 67 for people who were born in 1960 or later.

[First Person: Why Social Security's problems hurt me at age 39]

The deficit commission's leaders, Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Alan Simpson, last week proposed a gradual increase in the full retirement age, to 69 in about 2075. The early retirement age would go to 64 the same year.

Under their plan, the new thresholds wouldn't be fully phased in until today's 4-year-olds are ready to retire.

AARP criticized the recommendations and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called them "unacceptable." Experts, however, warn that Social Security is on a financially unsustainable path that will worsen as people live longer and collect more benefits.

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U.S. Debt Proposal Would Cut Social Security, Medicare

Heidi Przybyla and Brian Faler
Bloomberg

The co-chairmen of President Barack Obama’s debt-reduction commission will propose cuts to Social Security and Medicare, as well as reductions in income tax rates in exchange for curbing tax breaks, according to a Republican aide who attended the meeting.

The chairmen’s plan is already causing some Democrats and Republicans on the 18-member commission to balk. The plan will be announced at 1 p.m. Washington time today, said commission spokesman Fred Baldassaro.

“This is not a package that I could support,” Representative Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, said during a break in a private meeting by the commission. She said any package able to win 14 votes on the panel would have to look “very different” from the options being discussed.

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Senior citizens brace for Social Security freeze

Matt Sedensky

Associated Press

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) -- Seniors prepared to cut back on everything from food to charitable donations to whiskey as word spread Monday that they will have to wait until at least 2012 to see their Social Security checks increase.

The government is expected to announce this week that more than 58 million Social Security recipients will go through a second straight year without an increase in monthly benefits. This year was the first without an increase since automatic adjustments for inflation started in 1975.

"I think it's disgusting," said Paul McNeil, 69, a retired state worker from Warwick, R.I., who said his food and utility costs have gone up, but his income has not. He lamented decisions by lawmakers that he said do not favor seniors.

"They've got this idea that they've got to save money and basically they want to take it out of the people that will give them the least resistance," he said.

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