Re: Refresher Course on Social Security

On Mar 9, 8:10 pm, "Jerry Okamura" <okamuraj...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"mg" <mgkel...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:1173487909.684085.249260@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx





On Mar 9, 8:43 am, "Jerry Okamura" <okamuraj...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"mg" <mgkel...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:1173410035.175824.315600@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On Mar 8, 2:29 pm, "California Poppy" <GoldenStatePo...@xxxxxxx>
wrote:
I am still working part-time for a city rec & park department. They
have their own retirement program rather than SS, which is what I
think all should be. I was given 19 choices of mutual funds. They
are labeled as growth, income, and stability. We were given their 3-
year average % increase. I chose a Conservative Growth Lifestyle
Fund for 50% of my retirement and a Core Bond Fund for 50%, but I
could have chose any fund and any percentage, and I could change any
year. This is what should be available for everyone.

A "city rec & park department" is a government agency that feeds from
the public trough. They're not subject to the ups and downs of the
free-enterprise system. They don't have to make a profit. If you are
suggesting they're system should be extended to private corporations,
you're comparing apples and oranges.

No she is saying that what is good for the goose is good for the gander.
She is saying she works for a government agency who offers her an
opportunity to invest her money and provide her with a chance to make a
better return on her investment.

She also said:

"They have their own retirement program rather than SS, which is what
I think all should be."

In otherwords what she is apparently saying is that state and local
government employees don't participate in the SS program, therefore it
should be eliminated.

Well, either fix it, or do away with it, and start from scratch..because it
ain't doing such a good job right now.- Hide quoted text -

I don't know if it is such a big problem in the overall scheme of
things. To me it looks a lot like Bush tried to pull the same sort of
Chicken Little thing with Social Security that he did with the WMDs in
Iraq and then solve the problem in the same way--by destroying it.

If you go to the following website:
http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=5530&sequence=2&from=0
and then look at Table 1-2, it shows that in 50 years outlays will
exceed revenues by only 0.1% of GDP. In 100 years the difference is
-0.54. That's a 2004 report. Then in 2005, they did the calculations
again and showed the numbers as about -1.39 and -2.11 respectively.
http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=6064&sequence=0

Here are the numbers from the 2004 report:

Expected Outcome Under Current Law
(As a Percentage of GDP)

50 Years (2004-2053)
Revenues: 5.39
Outlays: 5.50
Balance: -0.10

100 Years (2004-2103)
Revenues: 5.24
Outlays: 5.79
Balance: -0.54

To put those numbers in perspective:

When Reagon took office the national debt was about 32.6% of GDP.
When Bush/Reagan left office the national debt was about 64.1% of
GDP.
When Clinton left office the national debt was about 58.0% of GDP.
When Bush leaves office in 2008 the estimated national debt will be
69.3% of GDP.

In otherwords, the last 3 Republicans administrations have raised the
national debt by 42.8% of GDP while at the same time telling us how
great things are. On the other hand, we face a possible Social
Security deficit of about 0.5% to 2% in the next 100 years and Bush
tells us the sky is falling and he's going to have to do a shock-and-
awe bombing attack on SS like he did on the people of Iraq.

The American people don't trust Bush to handle the Social Security
problem and there's no "unique and urgent threat" like Bush said there
was with Iraq . We can wait until the Democrats get in power and let
them fix it.








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