Republican Losing The Spending Argument

[Matthanuf06]

Originally Posted by chemgator

All failures or ways to convert a forced savings program into a theft/forced charity program. (I know, socialism is good for you.)

Raising the retirement age provides minimal additional income--the main benefit of this is it reduces expenditures. People putting large amounts of money into SS will retire before the retirement age anyway because they can afford to.

Investing in equities just makes the finances for SS less stable. Investing in T-bills does not give a great return, but it is guaranteed. If you want retirement money in equities, invest outside of SS. If we have an extended recession / depression that includes a stock market crash (or two), then we'll have a serious problem. This recession has been relatively mild from a stock market perspective. I promise you, if the Dow Jones was hovering around 6,000 right now, you would not recommend such a foolish idea.

Wow. This is what is wrong with this country.

FYI of the Dow was at 6k you'd still be getting many times more money than you would with our current system. People really have no clue how bad of a deal SS is. Put it this way, if you deposited your SS tax in a crappy savings account at death your return on that would be significantly superior to what you get from SS. It's pathetic

And the volatility of the market is mitigated since this is a long term annuity type program. It's essentially perpetual, with huge inflows to boot.

You wouldn't treat it like a 401k where your value fluctuates based on the market. You'd treat it more like a pension plan. Guarantee something as weak as 4%. That is far superior to the 1% we get now. The market will surely do better than 4% long term (we are talking 50 years) and some of the surplus can be used for other programs (as well as tax reduction).

Therefore short term stock market fluctuations won't impact SS. If anything it'll impact the surplus of the program.

In addition the injecting of trillions of dollars into the capital markets would be the largest stimulus this country has ever seen.

[Minister_of_Information]

So the best way for the government to ensure its future ability to meet its obligations is for it to invest in government bonds.

Sadly it is not unbelievable that this argument is being advanced with a straight face.

[gatorman_07732]

Originally Posted by Minister_of_Information

So the best way for the government to ensure its future ability to meet its obligations is for it to invest in government bonds.

Sadly it is not unbelievable that this argument is being advanced with a straight face.

The mentality that somehow government is always the solution. More and more centralized government....lots and lots of centralized government. We can't spend enough according to some, and we have no debt problems according to some. Just keep on spending. God money after bad.....flush
If we ever have any chance for the future to succeed this mentality needs to squashed like a roach.

[DeanMeadGator]

Originally Posted by gator421

As opposed to the clear vision everybody else has?

Let's not worry. Future generations will inherit the disaster that is being created. We are stealing from them. They will blame us, and rightly so.

All blame, no leadership.

What - me worry? Alfred E. Newman.

[Matthanuf06]

Originally Posted by Minister_of_Information

So the best way for the government to ensure its future ability to meet its obligations is for it to invest in government bonds.

Sadly it is not unbelievable that this argument is being advanced with a straight face.

It's ridiculous. So we loan the government us at 1% over 50 years, and then the government takes that money and invests in its own debt a significantly higher rates over 30? Lol

[cocodrilo]

Today in a news conference I heard Obama utter the words "entitlement reform." I almost fell out of my chair. It's encouraging to know that he has at least heard of it. I'm now bubbling with optimism. No, wait, the Republicans will now probably be against it.

[gatorpa]

Originally Posted by cocodrilo

Today in a news conference I heard Obama utter the words "entitlement reform." I almost fell out of my chair. It's encouraging to know that he has at least heard of it. I'm now bubbling with optimism. No, wait, the Republicans will now probably be against it.

His idea of "entitlement reform" will be no SS for people who are "rich"...by his definition.

[Dreamliner]

Americans are angry and disillusioned because the Republicans aren't willing to spend quite as much as they want them to spend.

[DeanMeadGator]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

Americans are angry and disillusioned because the Republicans aren't willing to spend quite as much as they want them to spend.

What Americans are angry?? Who is "they"?

Do our children and grandchildren want us to spend (steal) more of their money and thereby ruin their economic well-being?

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by DeanMeadGator

What Americans are angry?? Who is "they"?

Do our children and grandchildren want us to spend (steal) more of their money and thereby ruin their economic well-being?

Face it, you're in the minority. Most Americans do not support government cuts.

[geauxgator1]

Originally Posted by gatordowneast

So Republicans are wrong on the need to cut spending, so we follow the democrats and go bankrupt? Huh? Can someone explain this to me?

It seems real simple. Raise taxes to fund all the foolishness and the economy will tank but "some" people will keep getting their free chit, but less taxes will come in because the economy tanks and people lose their jobs.

OR- be responsible and get our fiscal house in order. Our spending is up 40% since the empororer was crowned.

If Obama and Michelle would just take one less vacation a year, we could probably balance the budget. Or maybe just not take separate vacations. The royalty thing is out of hand.