Bay City, Michigan 48706
Front Page 03/28/2024 22:05 About us
www.mybaycity.com January 25, 2015
(Prior Story)   Government ArTicle 9645   (Next Story)


How It Works

SOCIAL SECURITY BATTLE: System Not Broke, Say Friends, Advocating Expansion

January 25, 2015       2 Comments
By: Dave Rogers

Printer Friendly Story View

Have billionaires really campaigned to end Social Security?

And if so, how can ordinary Americans stop them and save this middle class favorite?

A new national campaign to save and expand Social Security, involving Senator Bernie Sanders, Vermont independent, and many other national figures, called Strengthen Social Security, states:

"A growing chorus of prominent voices in Congress and elsewhere are calling for the expansion of our Social Security system - people who know that Social Security will not 'go broke' and does not add a penny to the national debt."

Senator Sanders elaborates:

"Social Security is not an "entitlement program. It is an earned income benefit. The revenue from Social Security comes from FICA payroll taxes, payments made by workers and their employers. Currently, workers contribute 6.2 percent of their income in FICA taxes - up to $113,700. Their employers match their payment. By law, Social Security cannot contribute to the federal deficit. Social Security has its own independent source of funding separate from the Treasury's general fund."

The question of why big corporations and their billionaire posses like the infamous Koch brothers are against the continuance of Social Security seems to be obvious by looking at the graphic (above). Employers would no longer have to make the 6.2 percent of wages contribution to the Social Security Trust Fund!

That would be a cash bonanza for plutocrats to use to further increase their wealth. Plus, changing to an investment-based program would line the pockets of Wall Street brokers who would handle those investments.

Let's see: 6.2 percent of total wages of 6 trillion dollars, help me out mathematicians. That would no doubt be the biggest cash honeypot ever in the history of the world. No wonder the moneyed fat cats are salivating over it. Recall that George W. Bush proposed Social Security "reform" near the end of his second term. The idea was squashed, but now we know why it has surfaced again.

Sen. Sanders elaborated after billionaire Wall Street tycoon Pete Peterson launched a 2012 New Hampshire town hall meetings series to drum up opposition:

"First, despite Wall Street and right-wing misleading rhetoric, Social Security, which is funded by the payroll tax, has not contributed one nickel to the deficit. Second, the Social Security Trust Fund today, according to the Social Security Administration, has a $2.7 trillion surplus and can pay 100 percent of all benefits owed to every eligible American for the next 21 years."

Michael D. Tanner of the Cato Institute, a leading critic of Social Security, sums up: "Social Security was able to pay early participants a windfall return on their money. But as demographic changes result in fewer workers paying into the program and more recipients taking benefits out, the return to subsequent generations grows steadily worse. Today's young workers will receive a rate of return far lower than what they could receive from private markets.

"Reform should fundamentally restructure Social Security. It should remove the Ponzi-like aspects of the program and allow younger workers to save a portion of their payroll taxes through privately invested personal accounts."

The support campaign points to the uncertainty of private markets (i.e., Wall Street) and revolves around a book by Nancy Altman and Eric Kingson that already is said to top the sales charts at amazon.com that comments:

"Social Security Works! will amplify these voices and offer a powerful antidote to the three-decade-long, billionaire-funded campaign to make us believe that this vital institution is destined to collapse. It isn't.

"From the Silent Generation to Baby Boomers, from Generation X to Millennials and Generation Z, we all have a stake in understanding the real story about Social Security.

"Critical to addressing the looming retirement crisis that will affect two- thirds of today's workers, Social Security is a powerful program that can help stop the collapse of the middle class, lessen the pressure squeezing families from all directions, and help end the upward redistribution of wealth that has resulted in perilous levels of inequality.

"All Americans deserve to have dignified retirement years as well as an umbrella to protect them and their families in the event of disability or premature death.

"Sure to be a game-changer, Social Security Works! cogently presents the issues and sets forth both an agenda and a political strategy that will benefit us all. At stake are our values and the kind of country we want for ourselves and for those that follow."

The Campaign for America's Future (future.org) states: "Simply put, the book makes the case that Social Security is the program that can help stop the collapse of the middle class, lessen the pressure squeezing families from all directions, and help end the upward redistribution of wealth that has resulted in perilous levels of inequality."

###

Printer Friendly Story View
Prior Article

February 10, 2020
by: Rachel Reh
Family Winter Fun Fest is BACC Hot Spot for 2/10/2020
Next Article

February 2, 2020
by: Kathy Rupert-Mathews
MOVIE REVIEW: "Just Mercy" ... You Will Shed Tears, or at Least You Should

"The BUZZ" - Read Feedback From Readers!

tennis1960 Says:       On January 27, 2015 at 06:29 PM
Another informative article.....keep them coming. Your better the 60 minutes......sometimes!
jahr2d2 Says:       On January 28, 2015 at 02:58 PM
I like how you cut through all the read tape, and make SS understandable. You are right it's a good program, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Agree? or Disagree?


Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

More from Dave Rogers

Send This Story to a Friend!       Letter to the editor       Link to this Story
Printer-Friendly Story View


--- Advertisments ---
     


0200 Nd: 03-24-2024 d 4 cpr 0






12/31/2020 P3v3-0200-Ad.cfm

SPONSORED LINKS



12/31/2020 drop ads P3v3-0200-Ad.cfm


Designed at OJ Advertising, Inc. (V3) (v3) Software by Mid-Michigan Computer Consultants
Bay City, Michigan USA
All Photographs and Content Copyright © 1998 - 2024 by OJA/MMCC. They may be used by permission only.
P3V3-0200 (1) 0   ID:Default   UserID:Default   Type:reader   R:x   PubID:mbC   NewspaperID:0
  pid:1560   pd:11-18-2012   nd:2024-03-24   ax:2024-03-28   Site:5   ArticleID:9645   MaxA: 999999   MaxAA: 999999
claudebot