Social Security and the Democrats
Most of us have paid into FICA for years and many are now receiving a Social Security check every month. Now we are finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money. Very nice, double taxation by the federal government on your money “put away” for you.
Here are some interesting bits for your enlightenment:
Q– Which party took Social Security from an independent fund and put it in the general fund so that Congress could spend it?
A–Yup. It was Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic-controlled House and Senate.
Q– Which party enacted an income tax on Social Security?
A–Ah, you guessed it, The Democratic Party.
Q–Guess which party increased the tax on Social Security?
A–Right again! The Democratic Party did it with Al Gore casting the deciding vote.
Q– Which party decided to give money to immigrants?
A– That’s right; immigrants moving into this country at 65 get SSI Social Security. The Democratic Party gave that benefit to them although they never paid a dime into it. That’s your Social Security money they gave away. Then, after doing all this, the Democrats turn around and tell you the Republicans want to take away your Social Security.
The worst part about it is, you believe it!
December 25, 2006 at 8:15 pm | Trackback
13 comments
> Q– Which party took Social Security from an independent fund
> and put it in the general fund so that Congress could spend it?
> A–Yup. It was Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic-controlled
> House and Senate.
False. Snopes says:
“Monies put into the SS trust have never been ‘put into the general fund.’ The requirements for how the SS Trust Fund is to be financed and invested have not changed since the fund’s inception in 1939. The reference to Lyndon Johnson indicates that someone was confused by a change implemented at the end of the Johnson administration (1969) that altered how the fund was accounted for in the federal budget but did not change the operation of the fund itself.”
My note: A paper chance, or lack thereof, doesn’t effect whether it was spent or not. The initial SS Act specified that the money only be invested in US treasury obligation. By definition this means the US would lend the money to itself, and from there could spend it however.
> Q– Which party enacted an income tax on Social Security?
> A–Ah, you guessed it, The Democratic Party.
Snopes says:
“Amendments to the SS act passed by Congress is 1983 allowed for 50% of the SS benefits to be considered taxable income for taxpayers whose total income exceeded specified threshold.”
My note: That’s right, 1983. Dem congress, but signed by Reagan. Oh, and this idea came from the Greenspan commission, appointed by Reagan, and Alan isn’t exactly a liberal.
> Q–Guess which party increased the tax on Social Security?
> A–Right again! The Democratic Party did it with Al Gore
> casting the deciding vote.
That much is true.
> Q– Which party decided to give money to immigrants?
> A– That’s right; immigrants moving into this country at 65
> get SSI Social Security. The Democratic Party gave that
> benefit to them although they never paid a dime into it.
Snopes says:
“No one, whether he be a citizen, immigrant, or illegal alien - is eligible to collect SS income unless he (or someone else such as a parent or spouse) has paid into the system.
Someone is confusing Social Security with SSI (Supplemental Security Income) - the latter is welfare program… created and signed into law during 1972, during the administration of Richard Nixon.”
My overall note:
So, you’re 1 for 4. Hey, if you were on the Sox, that wouldn’t be half bad!
SS is a mess. Its a shame that you would repeat information that can easily be proved to be false with a simple internet or Snopes search - or, at best, is a distinct spin. Attempting to make the issue partisan doesn’t fix a darn thing, nor does anything to advance the dialog towards fixing it.
Source:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/sschanges.asp
Well, Fred, each of your points could be argued. As an expert, you have some proposals? Partial privatization? Something else? Some brilliant plan by Harry Reid? Take the initiative in answering the questions as you did with the Forbe’s data at the other post. I’m still waiting.
Oh yes, Fred. The Administration’s attempt to forestall the inevitable, however flawed it might have been, was met by denial by those big-hearted non-partisan Democrats in Congress. What was wrong with Bush’s proposal, from your point of view? What’s your non-partisan plan?
Oh what the hell. I didn’t want to get into this today, Fred, but let’s take ONE sentence from Snopes for starters.
“The requirements for how the SS Trust Fund is to be financed and invested…” blah, blah, blah.
Fred, WHO “finances” the SS Trust Fund and what is it for? Investment? Answer that, and we can start on Snopes.
No, fredct, you have it wrong.
The democrats did it. They are responsible; they’re a culture of greed. This Ponzi scheme began with the liberal godhead FDR. They’re a culture of mendacity. This program is a redistribution of wealth, not what they said it was to be.
When they have a chance to undo the damage done by their party in congress, they don’t.
They tax 85% of your money a second time. What they really want to do is tax it at 85%.
I voted for Goldwater because he wanted to get rid of this thievery. Instead, we got an idiot who screwed the economy, started two wars and lost both, destroyed the military, and allegedly had carnal knowledge of swine. Not running for a second term was the only smart thing he did. He shouldn’t have run for a first.
As for the Democratic Party, rename that blivit, CPUSA. If the conservative Dems don’t like it let them get out. Force the RINO’s in with the mendacious Kennedy’s and Kerry. Shrink wrap the bozos and toss them into the European landfill called France.
Who wrote this for Snopes? Could be they are wrong 3 out of times? Find me the SS money everyone paid in. Find an illegal (aka criminal) alien over 65 that isn’t on SSI paid out of SS. They sure didn’t pay dime in taxes or SS to earn the income. You can change the color of a baseball from white to red and you’ll still be playing baseball.
Rhod,
I posted on this thread because the attempt to make it partisan was silly, not to mention factually false. I haven’t yet heard a SS solution I like. The problem I have with private accounts is that its not what SS is supposed to be about. Its supposed to be a guarantee, not a possibility. People should invest in their own, but SS should be there even if the market crashes. Investing SS in the market to me seems like a high-wire act having a safety net that isn’t strong enough to hold your own weight. I consider SS a safety net in case the market does poorly for people, and that would be gone with private accounts. Not to mention that you’d only make the issues happen earlier by taking money out of the system.
My ’solution’ to SS starts with a fiscally responsible government that doesn’t run deficits and can afford to pay for the programs it runs. Not cannibalizing income from other programs to pay for different needs. But as I said, I haven’t heard a solution I like yet.
The biggest problem with that post to me is that he blames Dems for ‘fearmongering’ with the market (true), and then goes on to fear monger with the gold standard (please learn what bankruptcy means, it doesn’t mean dropping the gold standard) and illegal immigrants. I don’t see why one fear mongering is better than another.
> Who wrote this for Snopes? Could be they are wrong 3 out of
> times?
Scrapiron, well, had you checked the Snopes pages, you would have found the original sources.
http://www.ssa.gov/history/InternetMyths.html
http://www.ssa.gov/history/InternetMyths2.html
Still not a good enough source for you?
Second, you can dislike SSI all you want, and we can talk about it (I’d be interested, I don’t know much about it), but the fact remains that it was signed into law by Nixon. So don’t go saying that “Dems” allowed it.
Last, everyone who works in this country - legal or otherwise - pays into SS. SS & Medi taxes are withheld from illegal immigrant paychecks just like they are from yours and mine.
Oh come now boys — the SS Trust Fund has been an off-balance sheet slush fund for thirty years — both parties have manipulated it for their own purposes.
Wave:
Of course they have. But the fund isn’t “financed” by government, it’s financed by business and employees. The surplus is a simply a surplus composed of IOU’s, and the $100 billion a year (average) lifted from Social Security funds is used for general revenue purposes whether Fred thinks so or not. We’ll know in 2018 if the revenue and expenditure lines intersect and the program slips into the red…the SS earnings deficit is projected to be about 10% by then. Although there’s disagreement on the future ratio of earners to recipients, it could decline to 2 to 1 in forty years.
The “fix” recommended by the Greenspan Commission and implemented by the Democrat Congress and Reagan was supposed to be permanent, but within five years Greenspan was himself a critic of the Treasury Note System. By 1998 he testified
before the Senate, when the IOU system already accounted for $781 billion dollars in the so-called SS “surplus”. Today it’s $1.5 trillion.
And yes, illegals will quite likely win their court case for access to their paid SS earnings. Fred, in any case, doesn’t seem to have a problem with transfer payments to illegals, as long as it’s not defined as “Social Security”.
> The surplus is a simply a surplus composed of IOU’s, and the
> $100 billion a year (average) lifted from Social Security
> funds is used for general revenue purposes whether Fred thinks
> so or not.
Of course I think so. What I don’t think is that if it was accounted for different, it would have a darn bit of difference as to whether the government spent it or not.
When you and I buy Treasury bonds/bills/notes, the government then spends the money. And they don’t ’save it’ or re-gather the money to pay us back when it matures. All they do it borrow more next time to replace what we redeemed, plus new spending. Same thing with SS.
If the government was forced not to spend SS, in some way, all they would do would be to borrow more to make up for the SS surplus they couldn’t spend. It wouldn’t change a single line on the spending list. Instead of borrowing initially like they would have to if they couldn’t spend SS, they’re going to have to borrow when the SS trust starts redeeming. Potato, potahto.
> Fred, in any case, doesn’t seem to have a problem with
> transfer payments to illegals, as long as it’s not defined
> as “Social Security”.
I’m honestly not sure what I think. On one aspect, they’re not here legally. On the other hand, they did pay into the system.
But that’s not my point. My only point is that *if* you have a problem with it, its equally R’s fault as D’s fault.
There’s basically nothing here, and certainly not the whole picture, that can be blamed on one party. They’re both collectively been pretty irresponsible and used it as they saw fit. To try to twist things to blame one party, a) is false, and b) does nothing to help the situation or reach any solution.
Wave said:
> Oh come now boys — the SS Trust Fund has been an off-balance
> sheet slush fund for thirty years — both parties have
> manipulated it for their own purposes.
Exactly what I’m trying to say!
Fred:
Not to put too fine a point on it, but if Wave made your point, you could have done the same. You also must have an opinion of your own. What is it? Whatever it is, it probably aligns with one of the parties.
No, fredct, you have it wrong. The democrats did it. They are responsible; they’re a culture of greed. This Ponzi scheme began with the liberal godhead FDR. They’re a culture of mendacity proven time and again. When they have a chance to undo the damage done by their party in congress, they don’t.
They tax 85% of your money a second time. What they really want to do is tax it at 85%.
I voted for Goldwater because he wanted to get rid of this thievery. Instead, we got an idiot who screwed the economy, started two wars and lost both, destroyed the military, and abused his dog. Not running for a second term was the only smart thing he did. He shouldn’t have run for a first.
As for the Democratic Party, rename that blivit, CPUSA. If the conservative Dems don’t like it let them get out. Force the RINO’s in with the mendacious Kennedy’s and Kerry. Bag the bozos in red hazardous bags and toss them into the European landfill called France.
Fred:
Apologies. I skipped over your answers, for some reason thinking it was the first post about Snopes. Thanks very much. I disagree on some points, but that’s what this blog is about.