For the love of god or whoever … VOTE!

[highfigh]

Actually, the maximum benefit requires waiting until you're 70 years old to start benefits. If you need Medicare Parts B, C & D it means you pay it yourself. Depending on your health situation and personal circumstances waiting until 70 can be an interesting dilemma.

I know that but you mentioned $20K benefit, which isn't possible. With bad financial planning and lack of earning power of so many, waiting until 70 can't happen. Medigap helps, though. Sometimes, companies offering early retirement paid for health insurance- my dad worked for Harley Davidson and after he retired, they paid nothing for the medical care received and it was fairly substantial. Unfortunately, it was all caused by smoking and their lives were shortened by it.

With the commonly mentioned insolvency date of 2034, which doesn't mean that benefits will stop, they need to come up with some good plans, rather than resort to fear mongering. Biden has done his share of that, too. He's one of those who have wanted to limit COL increases. They need to raise the maximum before paying tax after additional income, too- at the current limit, many people can't even escape the poverty level even with their SS benefits added.

Personally, I don' think the causes of this have been addressed effectively but in reality, it's not governments' job to raise people.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I know that but you mentioned $20K benefit, which isn't possible.

Okay, let's circle back. A $20K/month benefit isn't possible now because the 2021 earnings cap will be $142,800 under the current law. Maximum benefits are proportional to the earnings cap. Biden wants to eliminate the cap, with a hole between the current legal earnings cap and $400,000. If Biden raises the cap such that it effectively has no limit, someone who earns, say $2M/yr in wages and bonuses will get a monthly benefit that is some multiple of the 2021 limit. I was just using $20K/mo as a possible example.

What I think Biden is really going to need to meet his objectives is a special Social Security surtax passed, not just an increase in the income cap. That way benefits would be based on the current system, but people with a taxable income over $400,000 would just pay more into the system, along with their employers.

 

[Ponzio]

 

[Irvrobinson]

Yep, time for a meaningful rewrite of the tax codes to manage these ugly loopholes and manage it better.
Maybe we need to go back to the Clinton era tax codes? We had a surplus for two years.

For full disclosure, my friend Paul, who lurks here and thinks everything I post is hilarious, sent me an email and told me I'm dead wrong about the reason for the Clinton surpluses. He claims that the Clinton administration made some under-handed accounting changes with the Social Security surplus that were typical back then, and that Clinton and the Democrats should be ashamed of themselves. (Paul is a libertarian.) Anyway, I did a search and, sure enough, some links to commentary about "fake surpluses" and such came up, but I can't be bothered to chase this herring. When I asked why the coincidence of the dot-com bubble and the surpluses overlap so much, he dismissed my correlation as "bogus economics". Anyway, you can judge for yourself, but he claims we're both wrong.

 

[lp85253]

I know that but you mentioned $20K benefit, which isn't possible. With bad financial planning and lack of earning power of so many, waiting until 70 can't happen. Medigap helps, though. Sometimes, companies offering early retirement paid for health insurance- my dad worked for Harley Davidson and after he retired, they paid nothing for the medical care received and it was fairly substantial. Unfortunately, it was all caused by smoking and their lives were shortened by it.

With the commonly mentioned insolvency date of 2034, which doesn't mean that benefits will stop, they need to come up with some good plans, rather than resort to fear mongering. Biden has done his share of that, too. He's one of those who have wanted to limit COL increases. They need to raise the maximum before paying tax after additional income, too- at the current limit, many people can't even escape the poverty level even with their SS benefits added.

Personally, I don' think the causes of this have been addressed effectively but in reality, it's not governments' job to raise people.

biden has also proposed (this election cycle) that the avg ss check should increase by $100 a month .. so that's something, but in big cities with housing shortages that still doesn't help enough for most people to qualify for anything but low income housing (which invariably has a year to two waiting list)...they really don't have a choice here, ss needs to be increased,, the other outcome would be massive increases nationwide of homeless seniors...it's not a good look when (everybody's) grandma is homeless while a buncha rich guys are getting tax breaks..

 

[IansDad88(Don)]

Do you think it's possible that the US military put bounties on foreign troops? Remember the deck of cards with the photos of terrorists? You know those carried a bounty, right? Some bounties are never spoken of and don't necessarily come from the top brass.

Comments like this will seriously alter my opinion of your opinions.

Took me a good 15 minutes to think of something less objectionable than my initial thought.

 

[mtrycrafts]

For full disclosure, my friend Paul, who lurks here and thinks everything I post is hilarious, sent me an email and told me I'm dead wrong about the reason for the Clinton surpluses. He claims that the Clinton administration made some under-handed accounting changes with the Social Security surplus that were typical back then, and that Clinton and the Democrats should be ashamed of themselves. (Paul is a libertarian.) Anyway, I did a search and, sure enough, some links to commentary about "fake surpluses" and such came up, but I can't be bothered to chase this herring. When I asked why the coincidence of the dot-com bubble and the surpluses overlap so much, he dismissed my correlation as "bogus economics". Anyway, you can judge for yourself, but he claims we're both wrong.

An interesting accounting here. It does mention the SS borrowing but, there were other initiatives. And as other presidents did borrow from SS, they didn't get a budget surplus.:
Economic policy of the Bill Clinton administration - Wikipedia
The Budget and Deficit Under Clinton - FactCheck.org
But then, I have a negative standing.

 

[lp85253]

Comments like this will seriously alter my opinion of your opinions.

Took me a good 15 minutes to think of something less objectionable than my initial thought.

i at 1st had the same objections .. then i thought there might be a *little something* to that.. there were certainly preferred targets in the last engagements.. my dad also fought in ww2 in the pacific in several naval battles .. there was some serious "truck them" going on .. story he told me: the 1st time he saw a man die was a navy airman strafed by a jap fighter.. he and many of his shipmates openly rooted for US aviators to return the favor(and told the pilots so)..another story he told : to avenge the wake island massacre they stopped and shelled the jap base on wake *every time* they were anywhere near the the island ... they just wanted to make a buncha japs dead.. his own words..

 

[lovinthehd]

Wow the weak ass indication from drumph he's going to concede.....a tweet about letting Murphy do what she should already have done outside of party loyalty? Good grief republicans are twisted.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Wow the weak ass indication from drumph he's going to concede.....a tweet about letting Murphy do what she should already have done outside of party loyalty? Good grief republicans are twisted.

Not twisted. Afraid. Of Trump supporters.

 

[mtrycrafts]

And the destruction continues. "Open Sky" program abandoned/withdrawn. Planes are being destroyed. Replacement plene orders cancelled.
What the hell is going on there ? Was this what Putin wanted from the would be king?
Trump Exits Open Skies Treaty, Moves to Discard Observation Planes - WSJ

China lashes out at US withdrawal from Open Skies Treaty with Russia (militarytimes.com)

Treaty on Open Skies - Wikipedia

What is next? Inviting the russian forces to take over?

 

[lovinthehd]

Not twisted. Afraid. Of Trump supporters.

They are afraid of themselves? That figures I suppose. Fear of a lot of weird crap.

 

[Dude#1279435]

Wow the weak ass indication from drumph he's going to concede.....a tweet about letting Murphy do what she should already have done outside of party loyalty? Good grief republicans are twisted.

Wow, I'm so impressed with Ingraham and the like conceding. A (R) from TN said something along the lines of "We should appreciate all president Trump did for this country." AKA the stain he left on the American climate.

 

[Trell]

That’s all you’ve got? OK Boomer? Pathetic.

Unlike you I don't resort to anti-gay bigotry and xenophobia instead arguments. I don't really care if you think that makes me "pathetic", but it does says quite alot about about you.

 

[Trell]

Are you referring to the Flat-Earth people" I don't know how that even started- it was proved wrong hundreds of years ago.

I don't know who complained about $50 toilet seats but the Senator who complained about $1000 hammers or ladders was William Proxmire and he did this in the late-'60s and early-'70s. Apparently, he didn't understand that the US has 'secret projects' to finance.

The public option and drug price negotiations are two of the things I don't like about the current plan and another is the use of the IRS to penalize people who didn't join (which ended last year). The idea that healthy 35-50 year olds would pay a major part of the cost was just not sensible.

No, I don't think you are a Flat Earther. The line was from Krugman showing his frustration with some centrists and journalists/pundits trying to be fair by giving equal credence to both sides of an argument [edit: when one side is obviously not true].

 

[Ponzio]

Isaac Asimov Quote on 'ignorance'.

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Unlike you I don't resort to anti-gay bigotry and xenophobia instead arguments. I don't really care if you think that makes me "pathetic", but it does says quite alot about about you.

Nonsense. You just twisted my comment around a few times to suit your need to be argumentative. Not impressive at all.

 

[Alex2507]

Nonsense. You are fabulous.

Fixed

 

[Trell]

Nonsense. You just twisted my comment around a few times to suit your need to be argumentative. Not impressive at all.

Here you go again whining about twisted arguments in attempt to deflect.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Here you go again whining about twisted arguments in attempt to deflect.

No, Trell. You are just trolling. As far as I can tell you seldom actually discuss anything; you mostly try to bait other members you have philosophical disagreements with to get them to react to your insolent remarks. I know it amuses some people, but I think it's just pathetic and weak.