BA> JM> It is truly amazing to me that somebody like RS can't tell
BA> JM> the difference between social welfare programs and Social
BA> JM> Security.  I guess it's the "social" part that has him 
BA> JM> befuddled,  He should know that Social Security is an
BA> JM> insurance program.

BA>Actually, Socialist Security is an insurance program in name only.
BA>If it had to run like a real insurance program (a) the premiums would
BA>be at least twice and possibly three times what they are and (b) the
BA>benefits would be less - much less.  Of course, if it had to run like
BA>a real insurance program the taxpayers wouldn't have to bail it out
BA>every couple of decades.  2010 is the first year since 1980 (the last
BA>time Socialist Security was bailed out by the taxpayers) that
BA>benefits paid will exceed contributions received.

BA>Been discussing this in another echo.  My point is that after three
BA>to five  years of benefits, one has exhausted all of one's
BA>contributions into the program
BA>and all of the (theoretical) interest those contributions generated
BA>(the government
BA>doesn't pay interest to itself, so any such interest is accounting
BA>fiction, not real
BA>money).  Since most recipients draw benefits for longer than five
BA>years - much longer in many cases (my grandparents drew it for over
BA>20 years, and they died 30 years ago), the benefits they draw are
BA>paid for by Joe Taxpayer after they reach
BA>that point.  I noted that I will exhaust my contributions to
BA>Socialist Security in
BA>about 2012 and will then become a welfare bum - but since the world
BA>is going to end in 2012 I won't be one for very long.

BA>Note that nearly all government (and not just federal government)
BA>programs end up
BA>costing far more than their proponents claimed.  The current Reason
BA>contains an article on that subject.  When the politicians were
BA>trying to get Medicare enacted
BA>they claimed the program would *never* cost more than $2billion a
BA>year; after it
BA>was enacted they estimated that in 1990 Medicare benefits would cost
BA>about $12 billion (up by a factor of six in less than two years) - in
BA>fact the benefits paid 
BA>in 1990 were somewhere around $95 billion (just shy of eight times
BA>the estimate -
BA>and 47 times the original claim) and they're well over $110 billion
BA>today.

Medicare and Social Security have $1.47T budgeted in Obama's latest 
budget for 2011.  Together they are 50% of the entire federal budget and 
over 10% of GDP for the entire US.  This is why these massive social 
programs are unststainable.


Jeff   

CMPQwk 1.42-21 9999 
Democrats --  The party of economic slavery ....

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