Think Progress

7 Responses to “Press Conference: The Myth of Ownership”

1. VJ says:

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   I wonder what all those Americans who own Treasury Securities will think of him claiming they are “not real assets” ?

   April 28th, 2005 at 8:37 pm

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2. fred says:

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   He’d make a bad used car salesman.

   No trust in anything he says.

   April 28th, 2005 at 8:56 pm

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3. Willie Loucks says:

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   I would like my retirement account to be like the congressional retirement account. Don’t pay in but draw full pay in retirement. I wonder if they can pass it on to their heirs with out a tax.

   April 28th, 2005 at 9:06 pm

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4. kindness says:

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   I’ll give him some credit for coming out (finally) and saying that he thinks benefits need to be reduced. At least that is slightly more honest for him.

   Do I agree with that position? Hell NO! Eliminate the $89,000 cap on the SS payroll tax and keep it going at it’s current solvency till 2090 as per the actuaries who run the numbers. I think that is a much better way to deal with the SS issue.

   It’s the Medicare money that is projected as being 3x the deficit problems that the regular SS account has that is going to be the really hard thing to work finances out. No one is addressing that yet because they would only get burned no matter what they said.

   April 29th, 2005 at 10:46 am

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5. Tony says:

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   VJ-

   The trust fund IOUs **ARE** indeed meaningless, since they are a debt that the **government owes itself**. There is no actual worth to the trust fund.

   Here’s an analogous example. You say to your self: I am loaning myself $10 billion. I will pay myself back in 10 years. You now have a $10 billion trust fund. Hooray, except you are also $10 billion in debt. In order for someone to draw from the trust fund, you will have to get the money from somewhere. In the government’s case, it would be from tax increases, spending cuts (possibly including SSA benefit cuts), or issuing more public debt.

   April 29th, 2005 at 5:21 pm

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6. gmatov says:

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   As to post 4, why do benefits need to be reduced?

   I don’t know anyone with just SS at full rate who would be called rich. What, approx. 400 bucks a week?

   However, if the tax law was changed, so that the portion of your income above a certain level, what is it now, 25 thou, makes your SS taxable, would be returned to the SS instead of into the general Fund, it would both, reduce the SS “deficit”, and show a way larger Federal Deficit, maybe large enough to get pipple up in arms, and to the voting booth.

   With a change to CPI rather than a wage level annual escalater, 15 years on retirement will make a bunch of poor old farts

   And, does anybody believe that the CPI is only a % or so above what it was last year, or do they kick out the stuff that rises? Food and energy, as an example, or wages are going through the roof, unless you occupy the cormer office.

   Cheers,

   George

   May 1st, 2005 at 2:56 am

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7. Tony says:

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   VJ-

   The trust fund IOUs are indeed meaningless, since they are a debt that the government owes itself. There is no actual worth to the trust fund.

   Here’s an analogous example. You say to your self: I am loaning my self $10 billion. I will pay myself back in 10 years. You now have a $10 billion trust fund. Hooray, except you are also $10 billion in debt. In order for someone to draw from the trust fund, you will have to get the money from somewhere. In the government’s case, it would be from tax increases, spending cuts (possibly including SSA benefit cuts), or issuing more public debt.

   May 2nd, 2005 at 11:00 am

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