RANT: The Social Security ‘Trust Fund’

Saturday, July 23, 2011

http://cafehayek.com/2011/07/the-fraud-of-the-social-security-trust-fund-exposed-by-a-most-unlikely-source.html

The Fraud of the Social Security ‘Trust Fund’ Exposed by a Most Unlikely Source

by DON BOUDREAUX on JULY 16, 2011

in MYTHS AND FALLACIES, OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY, POLITICS, SOCIAL SECURITY, VIDEO, WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE COUNTRY

*** begin quote ***

Today’s Wall Street Journal exposes the lie that is the so-called “Social Security Trust Fund” – and further reveals the disgraceful flippancy with which politicians and their go-fers mislead the public about it.

*** and ***

An I.O.U. that you write to yourself and that you yourself hold might be a useful accounting device, but it is not wealth. Unfortunately, many politicians and bureaucrats enamored with Social Security lie (the word is not too strong) repeatedly about the nature of these bonds and what they imply about the solvency of Social Security.

*** end quote ***

Using the word “trust” in connection with ANY politician and or bureaucrat is the height of stupidity.

As I tell jobseekers, “the only paycheck you can count on is the ones that you have cashed”.

How can we convince “We, The Sheeple” that there is no “Trust Fund”. If the money was given to MetLife, Prudential, or even used to buy a farm or a factory. That has a chance to bear fruit in future years.

Even if one bought an annuity with their “Social Security Insurance” “contributions”, then you’d have a chance of a return. Even a Ponzi scheme is more moral; the scammer can’t MAKE you give your wealth away. The Gooferment will kill you if you don’t.

Argh!

Frau Reinke paid in for years, got 8 months back, and I got her $225 death “benefit”. For decades of “contributions”!

Disgraceful. Robbery.

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RANT: A smart guy doesn’t think Social Security is broke

Sunday, January 30, 2011

http://www.keywestlou.com/2011/01/blog-late-slept-late-sorry-yesterdays.html

My Life in Key West

SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 2011

*** begin quote ***

I hit Social Security hard. The American people are getting a crock of improper information from the right. Social Security is not insolvent. It will be either 8 years or 24 years before there is a problem. Deal with the other issues at this time which are critical at the moment. Deal with Social Security later in a precautionary fashion to make sure no problems occur down the road.

*** end quote ***

Social Security isn’t insolvent?

Guess we have different definitions of what “insolvent” means!

in·sol·vent adj \(ˌ)in-ˈsäl-vənt, -ˈsȯl-\

Definition of INSOLVENT

a (1) : unable to pay debts as they fall due in the usual course of business (2) : having liabilities in excess of a reasonable market value of assets held

b : insufficient to pay all debts <an insolvent estate>

c : not up to a normal standard or complement : impoverished

We’ll just go to that “lockbox” each month an take out what’s needed to pay the pensioners.

Oh, there is NO lockbox!

That proverbial lockbox is full of IOUs from the Treasury.

Surely the Treasury has a “treasure room” to redeem these IOUs against? Fort Knox?

No, Treasury thru the FED borrows money from China!

Now, I know it’s hard for folk to think of their precious Gooferment as being “broke”. But it is.

Not that it doesn’t have resources. Not that it is without people.

It’s short on clarity.

It all starts back in 1913 with the creation of the FED, with stops along the way at FDR’s gold confiscation, Nixon closing the gold window, and “Helicopter” Ben with his “printing press”.

What we are calling money has no intrinsic value. No scarcity. We’re lucky that we’ve pulled the proverbial wool over the world’s eyes with the “Dollar as the World’s Reserve currency”. Our new modern Dollar is worth whatever you can exchange it for. We kid ourselves that it has “value”.

(Saddam whispering, that he wanted to be paid for “his” oil in the golden dinar, was enough to get him overthrown.)

The OPEC countries and China are wising up to the scam. Their problem is how do they hit the exit from the Dollar while it still worth something. And, they are not in a position to go without the USA markets. Yet. Why do you suppose that China is buying everything in sight with its dollars? Much like the Japanese in the 80’s who bought Rockefeller Center, golf courses galore, and stuff. It didn’t save them.

Now, back to Social Security. When I was on Wall Street, everyone always worried about “counter party risk”. If I do a trade with you, will you complete the deal. Us old folks have a “moral IOU” from Uncle Sam that says we have sort of a claim on future generations for an annuity. (An annuity that pays a negative interest rate, I might add. But, let’s keep it simple.) Congress can with the stroke of pen change the terms of that annuity. (As it can with any public servants’ pension.)

Now there are any number of reasons that they abrogate the deal. It’s too expensive. It’s inconvenient. Or, there are not enough future taxpayers to make good on the promise.

So how can you say that Social Security isn’t broke? It’s not like a real Insurance Company. It makes Bernie Made-Off look penny ante.

Did you skip MC’s eckynomics class?

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RANT: The Social Security Myth

Saturday, January 22, 2011

http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/111849/social-security-changes-in-2011?mod=fidelity-readytoretire&cat=fidelity_2010_getting_ready_to_retire

4 Social Security Changes Coming in 2011
by Emily Brandon
Tuesday, January 18, 2011

*** begin quote ***

The Social Security program will be tweaked in several important ways in 2011. Workers will get a temporary tax break on the amount they pay into the entitlement program, and several claiming options for retirees will be eliminated. Here’s a look at how the Social Security program will change this year.

{Extraneous Deleted}

The Social Security system’s finances are not expected to be harmed because the trust fund will be reimbursed for the full amount of the tax break from the general fund of the Treasury. However, this change also means that the Social Security trust fund will no longer be completely funded directly by citizen contributions. “This pretty much ends the claim that Social Security is self-financing or that it doesn’t contribute to the budget deficit,” says Andrew Biggs, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a former deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration.

*** end quote ***

What a bunch of hogwash!

This is all a myth.

Myth: “an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution”!

Boy, that sure fits.

If you went to Metropolitan Life Insurance and bought an annuity. They would take your wealth that you gave them freely, invest it in something productive, deduct their fee, and return it to you over time in accordance with your contract. You have “rights”. You know it will be audited. You can sell it. You can rely on their assurances. There’s a risk, but you’ve considered and know it.

Now compare it to the Social Security “system”. (It’s wrong to call it a Ponzi scheme. In a Ponzi scheme, you volunteer to participate. Usually out of greed. But, with “Social Security”, you don’t get a choice.)

They TAKE your wealth. If you don’t want to participate, men with guns will come and possibly kill you.

That wealth is thrown into the General Fund. And, you get a promise. Not even an IOU.

The whole article “celebrates” the system.

Where are your rights?

When the system goes broke, you, and I, will be standing like David Copperfield, hat in hand, saying, “May I have what’s mine, sir?”

“We, The Sheeple” are getting shorn again.

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POLITICAL: Deny Congress everything

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/12/deny_congress_fica_payroll_tax.html

December 05, 2010
Deny Congress FICA Payroll Tax in the General Fund
Erroll Ivery

*** begin quote ***

It was not just a “change in budget presentation.” The net result of lending payroll tax to the federal government under a unified budget was divestiture of all trust funds. Congress then spent surplus payroll tax, instead of leaving it in the trust fund and investing it in money market investment accounts, for example, to earn interest and preserve capital during years of surplus payroll tax. Instead of asking the American worker to compensate for Congress’ fiscal irresponsibility, Congress should re-capitalize the Social Security Trust Fund with payroll tax deposits. Any deficit in receipts needed to pay benefits should then come from the General Fund.

*** end quote ***

I don’t understand why we continue the fiction that this is a “separate program”, “insurance”, or even an “entitlement”. It’s a welfare program that has been marketed

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RANT: Without SSN there’d be no such thing as “identity theft”

Friday, June 11, 2010

http://www.wxpnews.com/archives/wxpnews-432-20100608.htm

Vol. 10, #22 – Jun 8, 2010 – Issue #432
Is Google The Biggest Threat Yet to Your Privacy?

*** begin quote ***

Of course, in many cases we don’t have much choice about giving out that personal data. You can’t just tell the doctor’s office “no” when they ask for your social security number and other personal info – not if you want to get treatment. You have to give that info to your bank because you need a bank account in order to pay your bills and cash your paychecks (sure, it’s possible to survive without one, but it’s not very convenient in today’s world).

However, many people also give out a lot of information that it’s not mandatory to reveal. I am also surprised at how many people put their full dates of birth and their cell phone numbers on their Facebook profiles, visible to the public. Date of birth is a piece of information that’s very valuable to identity thieves, and if you don’t have an “unlimited” plan, anyone who has your cell number can “text bomb” you and cost you hundreds of dollars.

*** end quote ***

Argh!

Darn FDR and his Social Security Insurance scheme. Like a Ponzi scheme that you’re force to participate in.

It gave the Feds their universal identifier.

How many people remember that the original SSI cards said “Not for identification purposes”?

We are such boobs. The politicians and bureaucrats lied.

And, we bear the brunt of it.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

You don’t OWN your name or your SSN!

It should be copyrighted, trademarked, or patented. So you can control it.

But most of all we shouldn’t have it at all!

Argh!

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MONEY: Social Security is like a Ponzi scheme

Monday, June 7, 2010

http://www.doughroller.net/personal-finance/what-is-social-security

What is Social Security? by Michael on June 7, 2010

>Have you ever wondered how Social Security works?

The Gooferment, using its gun power, has stolen and continues to steal from the workers taxes under the guise of “insurance”.

Like a Ponzi scheme, it uses what it steals from current workers to pay off older workers. Unlike a Ponzi scheme, it’s almost impossible to avoid this theft.

In practical terms, this program transfers money from poor minority men to rich white women.

It’s intergenerational theft!

And, as an “investment”, it’s the rough equivalent a negative rate of return estimated between 2 and 5%.

>President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to assist the elderly

While we’ll never know what he wanted, but we do know he was a “progressive” who admired socialism.

It was asserted that “social security” was a big step on the road to socialism. Huge societal changes were initiated by this action. In effect, he put the old on the dole.

>impact on Americans by the Depression

A Depression that was caused by the Congress in passing the Smoot Hawley tariff and exacerbated by the (unconstitutional and monopolistic) Federal Reserve Bank. So, the answer is, of course, “more gooferment”!

>Before Social Security, care and monetary funding for these individuals

Was their own responsibility. And that of their family. Multi-generation family farms were common BEFORE social security.

>

And, don’t overlook the fact that Congress changes the rules as it sees fit. Try doing that if you were an insurance company.

Social Security is a disaster. And, as such, everyone should be VERY careful in including it in their financial plans.

And, bear in mind that the Gooferment needs money, and the IRA / 401ks are held by “Custodians”. So everyone should be worried that they will have their IRA and or 401k when they need it to retire.

Lest you think “it can’t happen here”, then think back on the Bank Holiday, the Gold Seizure, and the Japanese Internment.

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant, and a fearful master.” George Washington

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RANT: Social Security is a fraudulent theft by the Gooferment

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

http://reason.com/blog/2010/06/01/how-high-canshouldwill-retirem

How High Can/Should/Will Retirement Age[*] Go?

Nick Gillespie | June 1, 2010

*** begin quote ***

[*] For the purposes of Social Security; retirement ages in the private sector should be decided by the individual affected or the company paying same.

Last week, French folks took to the streets when the government threatened to raise the age at which vous could collect public retirement benefits…from 60 years to possibly 61 or even 62! Zut!

*** and ***

There is something truly perverse about any system that takes from the young and relatively poor and gives to the old and relatively rich, which is what Social Security and Medicare do. Indeed, the system is not just economically inefficient but morally bankrupt. It reverses centuries of tradition in which children inherit from their parents. Adding to the insult is that Social Security benefits do not pass on to the next generation, meaning that all that payroll tax money is belong to us (with us being the government). I’m no fan of mandatory savings accounts in the place of payroll taxes but even something like that, which would give all workers something like a 401(k) account that could be passed on, would be far preferable to the current system.

*** end quote ***

It’s even worse than that. “Social Security Insurance”, which I have mistakenly called a Ponzi scheme (i.e., in a Ponzi, the chooses to play; with SSI, there are the guns of gooferment to rob you), actually transfers from poor minority men to rich white women. Due to the disparate death rates!

I can’t think of a single redeeming value for SSI.

* It single-handedly destroyed the extended family by enabling grandparents to move away “to Florida” with the SSI income.

* It set up intergenerational theft.

* When it was set up, FDR knew it couldn’t be stopped. (It will stop with the bankruptcy of the nation.)

* It made being on the dole acceptable.

* It set a “retirement age” that locked into people’s thinking. With one size fits all thinking!

* It was supposed to be a tax free benefit, but the perfidious Congress made it taxable

* It was supposed to be a retirement, but it became “supplement”.

* COLA is given by the gooferment; not reality.

Argh!

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Stopping the Social Security Ponzi scheme! “Cold turkey”?

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

http://cafehayek.com/2010/05/stopping-the-social-security-ponzi-scheme.html

Stopping the social security ponzi scheme
by Russ Roberts on May 4, 2010
in Social Security

*** begin quote ***

The way to keep social security from bankrupting the country is to make it a welfare program for the elderly. But what about all the money I “contributed”? Alas, that was a lie. The money wasn’t set aside for the future. It’s like asking why don’t I collect food stamps even though I’m rich. Hey, I contributed so I should get food stamps. That’s a bizarre belief to have. That’s not the way food stamps work. That is the way social security is supposed to work, but it’s a bad idea, it was an illusion that your contributions were really yours and there isn’t enough money to keep the illusion going.

*** end quote ***

The problem is that the gooferment took the “seed corn” from everyone. They skimmed the “cream” off the top. We could have saved MORE for our own retirement, but they STOLE it early (when the savings would have had more impact) and OFTEN (by inflation eats up savings and raises costs). So everyone to now say “too bad, you’re screwed” is the perpetuation of a fraud and a theft. We didn’t get into this mess in a few years and won’t get out of it in a few years. It was decades. So, like Chile, we need time. <sub 40, recognition bond for contributions payable in 40 years; over 40 below 60, you get some choices; over 60, you get the old plan> And you work your way out.

I pitched a similar idea in the NY Tax Revolt in the 80’s. A twenty year plan to get out of gooferment education at 5% a year. Followed immediately by a twenty year plan, to get out of gooferment funded “education” completely. Forty years, like the time the Jews wandered the desert, gives you time to reeducate people and allow them to adapt to the new realities. Too bad they didn’t adopt it, we’d have been half way out by now. NJ’s education expense is crippling the State.

Paradigms and memes don’t change over night. And, folks have to be able to see the path, where it leads to, and how it can be accomplished with 960 (40 times 12) easy monthly payments of some modest amount gets them to Freedom.

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Upon reflection, this would cause violence in the streets. Only the wealthy could survive this body blow. And, with the gooferment planning to “monetize the debt” (i.e., inflate the currency so it can pay off the debt), those on fixed incomes and retired will be slowly strangled. Think the German pre-WW2 hyperinflation that made Hitler possible.

No, we need an orderly multi-generational way to get form here to there. Peacefully. The Chile solution worked well; why not here?

One problem is they were all illiterate and could ignore the liberal media telling us the gooferment’s propaganda line. We’re too “smart” for our own good. And, the youth propaganda reeducation camps are ensuring continued stupidity!

Argh!

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POLITICAL: Social Security Ponzi scheme will become “everyone’s” problem

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/03/social_security_slush_fund_now.html

March 28, 2010
Social Security Ponzi scheme unraveling
Monty Pelerin

*** begin quote ***

The darling of the politicans in Washington has become not-so darling. Social Security, for decades a hidden slush fund that allowed pols to spend beyond what they taxed, has turned into an albatross. The Ponzi Scheme has unraveled.

*** and ***

Last year the crossover estimate was revised to 2017. Surprise! Surprise! The program is now in deficit. From this point on, there is nothing for politicians to “steal” from the “trust fund.” Instead, they will have to use general tax revenues to fund Social Security shortfalls. The fund has flipped from a cash-generator to a cash-eater.

*** and ***

At some point the privatization idea will be raised again. This time it will receive “broad political support.” There will be no principle involved. As a slush fund, the program had value for pols. As a cash drain, it is a liability that cuts into the “profitable” part of their criminal enterprise. It will be exorcised in some fashion.

It will likely be dumped on the American people, in the same fashion that bad banking loans have been.

*** end quote ***

You’ll get privatized now. When it’s worthless. The congresscritters have lied to the Sheeple. Now, when it comes time to collect on these promises, Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard is bare! And, the poor young workers won’t want to transfer wealth tot he rich old people. Will then we get get “health rationing”? OK Grandma and Grandpa, here’s your Titanic ticket. Have a nice cruise. At least, the Eskimos put the old people on an iceberg. No illusions. (Does any one know if that is a real fact or just another urban legend?)

But, get ready, the population demographics have changed and the Social Security Ponzi scheme is unsustainable.

You don’t think the congresscritters are going to give up their retirement; do you?

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MONEY: Gooferment wants to turn savings into guaranteed income streams

Sunday, January 17, 2010

http://www.newmediajournal.us/government/01152010.htm

Government
Retiree Annuities May Be Promoted by Obama Aides
BusinessWeek.com/Bloomberg

*** begin quote ***

The Obama administration is weighing how the government can “encourage” workers to turn their savings into guaranteed income streams following a collapse in retiree accounts when the stock market plunged.

The US Treasury and Labor Departments will ask for public comments as soon as next week on ways to promote the conversion of 401(k) savings and Individual Retirement Accounts into annuities or other steady payment streams, according to Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis C. Borzi and Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Mark Iwry, who are spearheading the effort.

Annuities generally guarantee income until the retiree’s death, and often that of a surviving spouse as well. They are designed to protect against the risk that retirees outlive their savings, a danger made clear by market losses suffered by older Americans over the last year, David Certner, legislative counsel for AARP, said in an interview.

*** and ***

Content Editor’s Note: The Obama Administration is going to try to force investors to structure IRA and 401k accounts into what amounts to a US Treasury debt-backed government annuity. This is an attempt to divert hundreds of billions of dollars of private retirement accounts into federal government debt. If the Chinese won’t voluntarily buy more US debt, the government will simply force it on American investors whether they want it or not. Just more freedoms being taken away.

*** end quote ***

Last time, the trial balloon was “enhanced social security”. Considering that “Social Security Insurance” is broke, that was a lead balloon!

Now they are back with another one, “annuities”, in Treasuries, and I’m sure sold by the Administration’s friends at AARP, packaged by Goldman Sachs, insured by AIG, and delivered by a GM car. (OK, the last is a joke! But this whole think is a joke.)

What those unfamiliar with annuities does is ROB the estates of these people. And, make the gooferment your heir. Argh! As if the Death Tax wasn’t bad enough.

OK, for ha has, why not convert social security into annuities? Sure cause then people could sell them out.

BUT, (there is always a big butt), then we would be FORCED to recognized how underfunded all these “insurance” programs are.

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