A Proof

[Isaac]

Were is the proof?

The border patrols own admissions isn't enough for you? You do know who they are right? They are the people who run the border

 

[Isaac]

it's called MAGA.

Oh yes, because all the fact-checking sites are known to be Maga.

Was that all you had? Or have you just thrown too many cold ones back.

 

[Isaac]

Selling short is not for the faint of heart. It's only value is that Trump started it, there is no financial, or any other, basis for it to gain. My oldest son came to me with an idea that he said was really cool. He and a friend worked up this computerized gizmo that was interesting. I asked him, "What problem does it solve it business?" They couldn't think of one and dropped the idea. Does anyone think that folks will flock en masse away from facebook to Truth Social? I don't think so. $47 mill is a lot to loose in the first year when there is no real idea behind it. Just another "me too".

What problem is solved by 99.9% of every soccer mom 's blog or vlog or YouTube channel or Instagram story? Literally nothing but quite a few of them are making hundreds of thousands.

By the way what the heck is Facebook? I heard of it about two lifetimes ago

 

[Pat Hartman]

Your support for a tax increase for Social Security is interesting. By saying general revenue should be used to pay for Social Security you are changing Social Security from a mandatory pension program to a welfare program for old people with a far greater degree of income redistribution.

Yes, they can just make up the shortfall by redirecting the funds they earmarked to put up illegal aliens in 3 star hotels and feed and clothe them and provide their medical care and educate their children, etc. Or perhaps the "loan forgiveness" money Biden keeps trying to use to buy the votes of ignorant children despite the Supremes telling them that his loan forgiveness efforts violate the Constitution. Maybe we could use the money that we are spending to fund the Ukrainian retirement system rather than our own. Why are we responsible for funding the retirement accounts of Ukrainians, we don't even adequately fund our own retirement accounts for state and local employees? "America first" means that we take care of our own. Then if we have anything left, we help others. The Constitution isn't a suicide pact. Nowhere does it say we should bankrupt ourselves to "save" others.

Better solutions would be to increase the revenue but the longer Congress waits, the worse the problem becomes. You can't change rules that affect people already collecting and depending on SS income so you have to move back in time so the changes affect younger taxpayers. We are living longer, it makes perfect sense to raise the minimum retirement age gradually to keep up with our lifespan and expected collection period. SS used to tax 91% of earned income. That rate has dropped to 81% so raising the wage cap will capture income from "the rich".

The changes to the program during the Reagan era that were intended to collect an excessive amount of income for the next 30 years to be held in "trust" and to be used to cover the shortfalls when the relationship between the people paying in and those collecting became unbalanced as the baby boomers started retiring so seem to have captured enough reserve income. Due to other societal changes, the average birth rate has dropped further than anticipated and that has also stressed the system.

 

[RogerCooper]

Yes, they can just make up the shortfall by redirecting the funds ...

When you talk about redirecting the funds you are taking fundamentally socialist point of view that the money "belongs" to the government. Each government program stands on its own, if the government spends excessively or improperly, that money should go back to the taxpayers not be used to shore another program. So talking about wasteful government programs is irrelevant to the question of Social Security financing.

As a practical matter the programs you talked about are small compared to the Social Security shortfall. Most Federal spending is on programs for the elderly; Social Security, Medicare and the majority of Medicaid. The only other place for big reductions is Defense.

Dealing with the Social Security shortfall will likely require an all-of-the-above approach: higher payroll taxes, lower benefits, more immigration, financing from general revenue, a higher rate of inflation. Doubling legal immigration would help, but won't solve the problem on its own.

 

[jpl458]

So why didn't you show what you found so that we could see the evidence?

You can look it up. Google Is "SSC in a Trust". or variations on that theme. There is a very long document there.

 

[jpl458]

Yes, they can just make up the shortfall by redirecting the funds they earmarked to put up illegal aliens in 3 star hotels and feed and clothe them and provide their medical care and educate their children, etc. Or perhaps the "loan forgiveness" money Biden keeps trying to use to buy the votes of ignorant children despite the Supremes telling them that his loan forgiveness efforts violate the Constitution. Maybe we could use the money that we are spending to fund the Ukrainian retirement system rather than our own. Why are we responsible for funding the retirement accounts of Ukrainians, we don't even adequately fund our own retirement accounts for state and local employees? "America first" means that we take care of our own. Then if we have anything left, we help others. The Constitution isn't a suicide pact. Nowhere does it say we should bankrupt ourselves to "save" others.

Better solutions would be to increase the revenue but the longer Congress waits, the worse the problem becomes. You can't change rules that affect people already collecting and depending on SS income so you have to move back in time so the changes affect younger taxpayers. We are living longer, it makes perfect sense to raise the minimum retirement age gradually to keep up with our lifespan and expected collection period. SS used to tax 91% of earned income. That rate has dropped to 81% so raising the wage cap will capture income from "the rich".

The changes to the program during the Reagan era that were intended to collect an excessive amount of income for the next 30 years to be held in "trust" and to be used to cover the shortfalls when the relationship between the people paying in and those collecting became unbalanced as the baby boomers started retiring so seem to have captured enough reserve income. Due to other societal changes, the average birth rate has dropped further than anticipated and that has also stressed the system.

I don't understand the part about the "Ukranian retirement system". How does that work? Are you saying that we should not help the Ukraine?

 

[AccessBlaster]

Congrats to everyone who didn't have college debt.
Now you do.

 

[Steve R.]

You can look it up. Google Is "SSC in a Trust". or variations on that theme. There is a very long document there.

That your job.

 

[moke123]

Congrats to everyone who didn't have college debt.
Now you do.

I'd rather have education debt than deadbeat debt.

Democratic-leaning blue states tend to be wealthier and pay more to the federal government than they get. In contrast, Republican-leaning red states tend to have less wealth and receive more federal government funds than they pay

 

[AccessBlaster]

I'd rather have education debt than deadbeat debt.

You can get a degree in tiddlewinks, just don't ask me to pay for it.

When you don't pay your education debt that is deadbeat debt.

 

[Pat Hartman]

When you talk about redirecting the funds you are taking fundamentally socialist point of view that the money "belongs" to the government. Each government program stands on its own, if the government spends excessively or improperly, that money should go back to the taxpayers not be used to shore another program. So talking about wasteful government programs is irrelevant to the question of Social Security financing.

So, It's OK for Biden to redirect funds to forgive college debt even though the Supremes have ruled this unconstitutional but you are calling me a socialist because I said to use that money instead to fund SS shortfall. Clearly you don't understand my point.

 

[Isaac]

Congrats to everyone who didn't have college debt.
Now you do.

Wow - very nice way of saying it. It's not erasing debt, it's redistributing it to the rest of us. How dumb are the people supporting this