Should thé USA get rid of Social Security?

Yes, the most earnings that can be taxed for social security is $168,600. That means when millionaires or billionaires earn millions or BILLIONS of dollars a year, they are only taxed on $168,600 x 6.2% = $10,450.

 

Exactly…the idea SS will become insolvent and add to the deficit is a canard. By law, it’s not allowed to…the IRS is empowered right now to raise the cap as necessary.
“In 2025, the cap for Social Security Tax will rise to $176,100. That's up from 2024's $168,600. While most know you can begin receiving benefits as early as age 62, you are not eligible to receive full benefits until you reach what's known as "full……”


If we just eliminate the cap altogether which conservatives are two faced about, it lasts indefinitely, or at the very least, raise it as the COLA would suggest, pretty much what is being done now. But to eliminate it would take an act of congress, which now they are incapable of doing anything for the middle class, poor and elderly.

Republicans are always on the privatize binge so the rich can get apiece of the pie. SS and Medicare overhead is far less than any privatization scheme they can come up with. Now, we’ll have explain to MAGAs what (overhead) that means.

Medicare for all, is a companion program to SS and could also be funded the same way with a huge savings to EMPLOYERS.

 

I don't see how it can be ended. SS $ is taken from every paycheck, just as happened to me beginning in 1963

 

You really should see if you can find someone to give you a hug and a cookie. The endless aggression detracts from your spew.

One item about Medicare. No, it cannot be viable for everyone. First, the average person will pay into Medicare, along with their employer, for 40 years before they can use any of it. The reason Medicare is such a "bargain" for retirees is that they have been funding it for about twice as long as they'll be able to use it. Any attempt to fund Medicare for everyone as soon as they enter the workforce would require THOUSANDS every month from employees and employers.

It's why Obamacare is doomed to failure.

Another issue is that even though Social Security would be a far better program if privatized, that will never happen. Most people already have their own 401(k) and consider Social Security an add on to their retirement program. But, so long as we pay into the program with the promise that we'll get it back when we retire, the program will remain.

But it is a great example of why we don't let government control any more of our lives than absolutely necessary.

 

Agreed, but the only way to fix it is to raise the cap.

SS tax is capped at something like $174k, and 90% of Americans make less than $174k.

So the top 10% also make 49.4% of all “income”. THAT right there is a problem, and why SS is going broke. It’s not that people are paying less, it’s that people make less, and that is less money going into SS. 10% of the population took 1/2 of all incomes, while the is SS tax was capped at $174k!!! Thats means that 90% of the population will collect SS, while less than 50% of all incomes are taxed.

We can fix it by increasing, or completely doing away with the cap. This is yet another problem with the system where those at the top real all the benefit. I pay 6.2% on $178k, ($10,78 ,while Elon Musk who made and estimated $8 million per day in government money, made $2.9 billion and pays $10,788, or 0.000372%

Yeah, that sounds fair…

 

With respect, if we’re going to be truly fair, then we need to be more fair in the income side. Are those who make those astronomical sums being fair on the income side of the equation ?

If we are going to be fair, we have to be fair on both sides of that equation….right ?

 

But also remember that benefits are capped as well. (Unless you're Ukraine apparently) Are you willing to have the cap on benefit amounts removed?

 

Social Security already pays only to those who paid into it--unless you’re suggesting widows, orphans, and the disabled should just fend for themselves like Dickensian street urchins.

And let’s address your ranting about “deadbeats.” You mean the elderly poor who worked their entire lives but had the audacity to be paid too little to accumulate wealth? Or the disabled, whose crime was failing to remain in perfect health for your convenience?

And then, the crown jewel of your nonsense--“illegals.” Not only do undocumented workers not receive Social Security benefits, but they pay billions into the system they’ll never get back. That’s right--your so-called "illegals" are subsidizing your retirement, Steve. The irony could power a small city.

 

Those are the literal legal requirements, you have to be a citizen and you have to have at least 40 work credits (about 10 years of paying into the system).

 

Literally any ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT can collect social security if they have been given permission to work in the US. If they can claim disability they can collect without ever having contributed. Ditto orphans and widows.

And it's a lot more prevalent than you think, thanks to Brandon's/mayorkas open border policies.

 

So if that is true, is the solution to scrap SS or to reform it?

 

Over 190 countries around the world have a social security system, even Russia.
Only the most stupid people think ending it would be a good idea.

 

Not really. Those who worked less than 40 quarters paid into the system but don’t qualify for any pension benefits. That’s unfair. They should get a percentage based on how long they contributed.

 

lol…literally, that’s a pile of incoherent bullshit.
If they have permission to work in the US, by definition they are not illegal.

 

Two programs going broke and will be unable to meet their obligations are our most successful programs?

 

Benefits are already capped…and YES I am all in for RAISING the cap on the tax.

 

Should thé USA get rid of Social Security?

Over time, yes. It belongs in the states according to the 10th amendment. But first they need to stop collecting FICA taxes for it so they can do that honorably.

 

I've given my answer one page 1.

 

Since you are soooo smart, can you explain how other industrialized nations (Canada, UK, Spain, Germany, Japan, etc) can get 99%+ of their populations covered under health care plans but the US will go bankrupt if we all have insurance?

They also do it much cheaper, about 60% of US costs for H/C, with much better results for their populations

"Despite spending significantly more on healthcare than other high-income countries, the U.S. often lags behind in key health outcomes, with lower life expectancy, higher infant and maternal mortality rates, and struggles with preventable deaths, according to reports from the Commonwealth Fund and other organizations."

MY GUESS? $$$$$$ AND THE RICH WHO WANT MORE OF IT!

 

WEIRD

"In two landmark cases in May 1937, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Social Security Act of 1935, ruling that it was a proper exercise of federal spending power for the general welfare and did not violate the Tenth Amendment. "

 

You mean the once the GOP has tried to bankrupt for years?

Start with Dubya/GOP Medicare "expansion" in 2003 that was passed in the middle of the night that THIS YEAR costs US tax payers $130 billion, Medicare Part D (Drugs). How much did the Repug bill fund it with? ZERO, only out of the general fund



At the same time they privatized Medicare by doing Medicare "Advantage", that private insurance that cost US over 10% more per person, that declines over 20% of first claims.

SS? Well hell, they prefer people die fast

 

Conflating legal workers with those hired by illegal employers? How rightie of you

If you are in one of the 7 "qualified alien" categories listed above, you may be eligible for SSI if you also meet one of the following conditions:

1. You were receiving SSI and lawfully residing in the U.S. on August 22, 1996.

https://www.ssa.gov/ssi/spotlights/spot-non-citizens.htm

 

IS THAT FROM LEON, THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF?

"The Social Security Administration (SSA) estimates that improper payments, including payments to the deceased and the very old, are around $3 billion per year, but eliminating these would only reduce costs by a small amount, extending the program's solvency by about 3 months."

From FYs 2015 through 2022, SSA estimates it made nearly $72 billion in improper payments, most of which were overpayments. While this is less than 1 percent of the total benefits paid during that period, at the end of FY 2023, SSA had an uncollected overpayment balance of $23 billion.

ABOUT $3 BILION A YEAR

https://oig.ssa.gov/news-releases/2...y $72 Billion,Office of the Inspector General

 

IT'S AN INSURANCE PROGRAM, DOZENS OF NATIONS HAVE, GERMANY OVER 150 YEARS NOW. We have to decide whether we care about people or want to live like a Dicken's novel

"The OASDI program—which for most Americans means Social Security—is the largest income-maintenance program in the United States. Based on social insurance principles, the program provides monthly benefits designed to replace, in part, the loss of income due to retirement, disability, or death."

 

Too bad the right never like it right, and has ALWAYS undermined it, by running up debt via tax cuts, mainly, the past 45 years



"Starve the beast" is a political strategy employed by American conservatives to limit government spending by cutting taxes, to deprive the federal government of revenue in a deliberate effort to force it to reduce spending. The term "the beast", in this context, refers to the United States federal government and the programs it funds, primarily with American tax money, particularly social programs such as education, welfare, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid

Before his election as President, then-candidate Ronald Reagan foreshadowed the strategy during the 1980 US Presidential debates, saying "John Anderson tells us that first we've got to reduce spending before we can reduce taxes. Well, if you've got a kid that's extravagant, you can lecture him all you want to about his extravagance. Or you can cut his allowance and achieve the same end much quicker."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starve_the_beast