Obama may cut Social Security says Sen. Sanders

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  • #171424
    aguirrewar
    Member

    interesting but a FALSE proposition

    you want to be in the US Senate and then commit HARAKIRI!! then go ahead and even say SS should be eliminated

    the gov. is the custodian of this fund but WE let them borrow against it and NOONE said anything

    now everyone is screaming “BLOODY” murder

    while we type about this issue read what R. Gates has proposed to do to the US military budget, (hint) reduce it during the next 4 years

    now that is a novel idea

    just recently Mr. Prez had to give in and extend the tax cuts to all making over $250,000 just so that those unemployed could get an extention of these benefits

    and now he is thinking of eliminating SS??

    Scott, I know you like US dollars but I also know you don’t like the US

    am I wrong???

    #171425
    Harperanne
    Member

    Senator Sanders’ remarks are his opinion, and later in his interview he admits that President Obama has not made any committments regarding SS. We all know that SS probably places the biggest demand on federal monies and that this and other entitlement programs are going to have to be addressed, but that doesn’t necessarily mean reducing payments to retirees. SS no longer resembles the SS it was set out to be as payments are going to those that are not retirees and Congress raids the fund. If these problems are addressed,which could be considered as “cutting social security) SS can be on a sound footing for a long time. But it’s going to take a collaboative effort to do it and the President is only one part of that.

    #171426
    costaricabill
    Participant

    [quote=”aguirrewar”]interesting but a FALSE proposition
    you want to be in the US Senate and then commit HARAKIRI!! then go ahead and even say SS should be eliminated
    now that is a novel idea[quote]

    [b]HYPOTHETICAL RESPONSE FROM YOUR SENATOR OR CONGRESSMAN:[/b]
    [i]You make some good points, but stop and think about the one above…

    Why would I care? I said what I needed to say to get your vote and get elected to the house or senate and after that, rather than casting my vote with the will of those who elected me, I’ll vote the way I want to vote (or, more importantly, the way I am told to vote) and I won’t worry about it one bit.

    You see, for the most part my colleagues and I share one common trait – we have no courage of our own convictions, so why would I even worry about doing the right thing on social security, healthcare or any other social issues? Once I got elected I don’t have to worry about retirement again because I can serve one term (or less) and go back home and receive my congressional salary FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!

    Plus, as a “former” member of the house or senate I get invited (for free) to approximately half of EVERY political event in my former district, and EVERY high social event and EVERY key sporting event and I get all kind of “honorary” awards and “honorary” memberships to country clubs, etc. FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!

    I might even get a new library, or fire station, or county park NAMED after me, can you say that? Are you starting to get the point here? “HARAKIRI” – WHAT A JOKE!

    So me worry about what you call political “HARAKIRI” – My retirement will be so much better off than all of you yokels that voted for me and I screwed once in office there’s no need for worry!

    And you know what, I vaguely remember authorizing one of my aids to sign something for me that indicated that I was aware that somewhere in the bowels of my congressional retirement policy there is a provision (voted in to law by my esteemed predessors) that states something like “whereas you are no longer contributing to the SS system (or the good of your country), and whereas you will not be receiving SS payments upon retirement, and whereas (other than your political legacy) you will not be a burden to future generations of SS contributors, attached hereto is a lump sum check in the amount of “$xxx” which equals the future value of the amount you have previously paid into the SS system, compounded at 22% for each and every year of your anticipated life span (times 2), which is the approved future value index rate applicable to the year of your election as promulgated by legislation authorizing and requiring the SS Administration to immediately repay these funds to you, tax free and under the table”. Anyway, it was something like that.

    You don’t think that I, or any of my congressional colleagues are just going to walk away from all the monies we have paid into the system and just leave it in the SS system for you to share, do you? Of course, in actuality, that really no big deal because very few of us ever had a real job before being elected anyway, so just forget I ever brought it up, along with most of my other campaign rhetoric!

    So the short version of the long story is, “Dont worry about my retirement and I won’t worry about yours”.

    “Sayonara”[/i]

    #171427
    Andrew
    Keymaster

    [quote=”aguirrewar”]Scott, I know you like US dollars but I also know you don’t like the US. am I wrong???[/quote]

    Of course you’re wrong aguirrewar!

    I’ve never even travelled to most of the states in the USA so I am certainly not qualified to say that I don’t “like the US.”

    My son and daughter are American citizens and live there, my ex-wife is an American and I lived in NY/NYC for over a decade.

    I can certainly say that I do NOT like US foreign policy (or British foreign policy for that matter) but, if you read any reputable non-US news you’ll see that the vast majority of educated people outside the US – of any religion – are of the same opinion.

    PS. I have a lot more respect for the paper that’s used in a good book than the paper we use to print money so I can’t say I “like US dollars” more than any other but I do use a lot of them…

    Scott

    #171428
    aguirrewar
    Member

    Both are wrong:

    Costaricabill: look at the ratio of changes in the US Congress, they FLIPPED to the GOP. You think they cannot flip again??? to the other side.

    They are sitting on PIN’s and Neddles, all of them.

    Scott: IF!! the US dollar is not traded anymore would you go with the Chinese Yen. Think hard about this one, because it is not really backed by the Federal Reserve but by the industries created in the USA like GM, Microsoft, John Deer, Kraft, Budweiser, etc..

    Keep thinking that the USA is on oxygen support and Costa Rica is one of the evolving country in the world. I hear you from a FAR distance but the rice is cooked in the USA to this day, maybe some far away day it will be from another country but until it happens you keep on eating GALLO PINTO.

    I will not, would not trade this country for any other with it’s problems and let me tell you, my wife is visiting her family in Costa Rica as I type this besides that I will be there in March 2011 for some dental work.

    I don’t deny we have problems in the USA but don’t even tell me that Paradise is in Costa Rica.

    Many posters in this forum ASK, what is the exchange rate going to be in the XYZ future compared to the dollar then why is it that they don’t ask what is the colon be to the US dollar.

    You expats from the USA are there for the grace of what you did back here and pray that this country is still standing another 200 years because your children and grand, great will be living here. Will they have the same opportunities you had, will they be able to work for 40 years and be able to migrate too another country to retire, comfortably.

    You made it here the HARD way and now live the soft one, well good for you but what about the next 1,2,3 generations. Never heard of an EXODUS from Costa Rica people comming to the USA to retire in comfort.

    Get real and get serious, we have a problem and it is not confined to borders but to the world economy.

    Warren

    #171429
    Andrew
    Keymaster

    Surprise! Surprise!

    Headline: Obama proposes cuts to Social Security.

    “And now he plans to propose major changes to Social Security as part of that “grand bargain,” which he hopes will reduce the deficit by as much as $4 trillion over the next decade, administration sources tell CBS News.”

    [ http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20077452-503544.html ]

    #171430
    *Lotus
    Member

    Just send me a check for what I have put in and we’ll forget the whole thing ever happened:wink:

    #171431
    maravilla
    Member
    #171432

    Ahh..Obama, he started by cutting our VA disability compensation COLA for two years, Social Security COLA for two years; and froze our federal salaries for two years. I’m glad the military trained me to always expect, the unexpected! And, always have a Plan B. I have prepared financially for whatever storm may come, and fortunately in my case, social security will just pay for a new boat. In the U.S. class battle, there will only be the haves and the havenots. The middle class has and will continue to be destroyed. I truely thought there would be a mass demonstration or quasi-revolution, when Obama froze veterans disability COLA for two years. I was sadly mistaken!

    #171433
    DavidCMurray
    Participant

    The absence of an increase in Social Security and veterans’ pensions for the past two years is attributable not to anything President Obama did but to the fact that, as computed under the laws, there has been no increase in the cost of living.

    “COLA” = “Cost of Living Allowance”

    No increase in the cost of living = no increase in COLA.

    Obama had nothing to do with it. This has been the law for decades.

    As for freezing federal employees’ salaries. It’s bullshit.

    #171434
    maravilla
    Member

    ok, David, which part is the b.s.?

    As for the other stuff — you’re right. The COLA has not one damn thing to do with Obama. How DO those rumors spread? I’ve heard rumblings that we MAY get an increase for next year. Won’t be much, but that’s okay.

    #171435
    DavidCMurray
    Participant

    The bullshit part is that which has to do with freezing the salaries of federal employees. It will have almost no effect on the total cost of government and is a slap in the faces of a lot of dedicated people who work hard in the public interest.

    These rumors spread because someone wishes to lay blame on someone else for something, anything, and finds a way to pass off a lie as truth. It’s done for political gain, not in the interest of the truth.

    #171436
    Harperanne
    Member

    Thanks, David – It’s nice to hear from someone who can report facts.

    #171437

    David,

    I am a high level federal employee, and I can assure you, our salaries have been frozen for two years. I assume you are not a current federal employee, and are misinformed. The freeze also reduces our federal pensions, by two years. The government inflation numbers and analysis are prepared by bureaucrates in Washington. Those of us here in the U.S., and the real world; see inflation in our utility bills, grocery bills, fuel costs, health insurance, auto insurance etc. Instead of paying these new inflated bills, I will merely inform these entities that “there is no inflation,” and that I will pay my current bills at the former billing rates.

    #171438
    sprite
    Member

    [quote=”DavidCMurray”]The absence of an increase in Social Security and veterans’ pensions for the past two years is attributable not to anything President Obama did but to the fact that, as computed under the laws, there has been no increase in the cost of living.
    “COLA” = “Cost of Living Allowance”
    No increase in the cost of living = no increase in COLA.
    [/quote]

    Is there no collusion between the Obama administration and that department which claims there has been no increase in the cost of living?
    Is there a single, sane person out there who can truthfully claim there has been no increase in the cost of living?

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