When are the arrest warrants going out for this Ponzi scheme

[chitown]

Should be plenty of politicians going to jail for this pyramid!

Millions face shrinking Social Security payments - Yahoo! News

Millions face shrinking Social Security payments


Millions of older people face shrinking Social Security checks next year, the first time in a generation that payments would not rise. The trustees who oversee Social Security are projecting there won't be a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for the next two years. That hasn't happened since automatic increases were adopted in 1975.
By law, Social Security benefits cannot go down. Nevertheless, monthly payments would drop for millions of people in the Medicare prescription drug program because the premiums, which often are deducted from Social Security payments, are scheduled to go up slightly.
"I will promise you, they count on that COLA," said Barbara Kennelly, a former Democratic congresswoman from Connecticut who now heads the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. "To some people, it might not be a big deal. But to seniors, especially with their health care costs, it is a big deal."
Cost of living adjustments are pegged to inflation, which has been negative this year, largely because energy prices are below 2008 levels.
Advocates say older people still face higher prices because they spend a disproportionate amount of their income on health care, where costs rise faster than inflation. Many also have suffered from declining home values and shrinking stock portfolios just as they are relying on those assets for income.
"For many elderly, they don't feel that inflation is low because their expenses are still going up," said David Certner, legislative policy director for AARP. "Anyone who has savings and investments has seen some serious losses."
About 50 million retired and disabled Americans receive Social Security benefits. The average monthly benefit for retirees is $1,153 this year. All beneficiaries received a 5.8 percent increase in January, the largest since 1982.
More than 32 million people are in the Medicare prescription drug program. Average monthly premiums are set to go from $28 this year to $30 next year, though they vary by plan. About 6 million people in the program have premiums deducted from their monthly Social Security payments, according to the Social Security Administration.
Millions of people with Medicare Part B coverage for doctors' visits also have their premiums deducted from Social Security payments. Part B premiums are expected to rise as well. But under the law, the increase cannot be larger than the increase in Social Security benefits for most recipients.
There is no such hold-harmless provision for drug premiums.
Kennelly's group wants Congress to increase Social Security benefits next year, even though the formula doesn't call for it. She would like to see either a 1 percent increase in monthly payments or a one-time payment of $150.
The cost of a one-time payment, a little less than $8 billion, could be covered by increasing the amount of income subjected to Social Security taxes, Kennelly said. Workers only pay Social Security taxes on the first $106,800 of income, a limit that rises each year with the average national wage.
But the limit only increases if monthly benefits increase.
Critics argue that Social Security recipients shouldn't get an increase when inflation is negative. They note that recipients got a big increase in January — after energy prices had started to fall. They also note that Social Security recipients received one-time $250 payments in the spring as part of the government's economic stimulus package.
"Seniors may perceive that they are being hurt because there is no COLA, but they are in fact not getting hurt," said Andrew G. Biggs, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank. "Congress has to be able to tell people they are not getting everything they want."
Social Security is also facing long-term financial problems. The retirement program is projected to start paying out more money than it receives in 2016. Without changes, the retirement fund will be depleted in 2037, according to the Social Security trustees' annual report this year.
President Barack Obama has said he would like tackle Social Security next year, after Congress finishes work on health care, climate change and new financial regulations.
Lawmakers are preoccupied by health care, making it difficult to address other tough issues. Advocates for older people hope their efforts will get a boost in October, when the Social Security Administration officially announces that there will not be an increase in benefits next year.
"I think a lot of seniors do not know what's coming down the pike, and I believe that when they hear that, they're going to be upset," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who is working on a proposal for one-time payments for Social Security recipients.
"It is my view that seniors are going to need help this year, and it would not be acceptable for Congress to simply turn its back," he said.

[Spin]

Denninger has a nice piece about this here

[Butterfly]

You can blame Raygun and Bush,

[Jet Gorgon]

You can blame Raygun and Bush,

attaboy, Buttfly, blame those GOP prezs again. Since bambam is so wonderfully clever, you think he might have factored some of these projects into his budget instead of spending willy nilly on his grand visions that are going nowhere.

[Muadib]

If I had all the $$$ I have contributed to SS taxes over the years and invested it myself, I would be much better off in retirement than trusting those funds to the government...

It's not a partisan issue... It has been a flawed program since it's inception... All administrations are complicit by being short-sighted in correcting the SS program... No one wanted to raise taxes due to political backlash, so here we are...

[Texpat]

No Maudib. We're supposed to trust the government ... now. It's all different now.
Agree with you. Anyone under fifty can just kiss that shit goodbye. You'll never see it. But the government will spin out increasingly more and more hare-brained ideas to take care of us. (wink wink)

[Jet Gorgon]

You'll be living on the streets but you'll have free healthcare?

[Texpat]

Give those 13-15 million illegals social security, too.

They'll be thrilled. But they don't vote.

WAIT! I just had a great idea. What? It's been done already? oh.

[barbaro]

Good OP, Chitown.

SS is in trouble, and now sooner than later. The timeline is about 2 years now. I think COLAS has always been pushed down the US gov as it tries to keep COLAS down by pushing down the "official inflation rate." Think of how much money .1% costs?

Ponzi scheme? Definitely.

Whether one wins or loses depends on age and income.

[barbaro]

Note from me: I got this info from a blog. Because it's a blog I am not sure if it's an exagerrated opinion, or if it's factual reporting from a Congressman's statements at a meeting with constituents.

I don't think the feds can tap state pension, because it seems illegal. (I know the feds often trump the law, especially when it comes to the states.)

If the accuracy seems dubious, I'll delet this post. -MM

To do some daily good Breaking News — Fed to Steal State Pension Funds

By Nancy Matthis | Saturday, August 22nd, 2009 at 9:30 pm

Congress may confiscate every state pension fund into the bankrupt social security system. Indications that this strategy is being discussed in Washington have come in to us from several sources over the last few days.

Tonight, a correspondent who has just come home from a Tea Party Townhall Meeting in Salado, Texas with US Representative John Carter (R-Round Rock) issued the warning. She said, “Representative Carter informed the crowd that talk has been bandied about Congress to appropriate every state’s pension plans into the bankrupt Social Security System.” She is absolutely 100% sure that she understood him correctly.

Dear readers, please understand that we are bloggers, and not professional journalists. Our information comes from ordinary folk who do the best they can to understand the political scene. Ordinarily, this would seem so outrageous that we would wait to share the news until we could get more clarification. But the current administration has moved with such breathtaking swiftness to federalize private assets and plunge our country into socialism, that we feel the need to sound the alarm, just in case.
We’ll keep updating this post as we find out more.

It’s Not a New Idea

From the Friday, January 29, 1993 issue of the Washington Post we have this article (archived by the Seattle Times) — Budget Cuts Vs. Social Security — Tap Pension Funds Worth $4 Trillion, Panel Tells Clinton — Employers Sense Danger ‘Once They Get Taste Of This’:

A bipartisan government commission yesterday recommended to the Clinton administration that it launch an aggressive effort to tap the retirement funds of millions of Americans to help pay for rebuilding the nation’s roads, bridges and highways and give the economy a lift.
President Clinton has indicated past support for the concept, which would represent an unprecedented effort by the federal government to deal with its budget woes by turning to the more than $4 trillion in cash, stocks and other investments held by pension funds.
Some opponents in the pension industry, who worry about protecting retirees, said they fear Congress might revoke the generous tax treatment afforded pensions if they actively oppose the initiative.
The recommendations by the congressionally chartered Infrastructure Investment Commission, which has had the strong support of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., include establishing the National Infrastructure Corp. It would be a new government-sponsored corporation that would encourage at least $30 billion in investment by pension funds. Several billion dollars in seed money for the new corporation would come from a new energy tax now under consideration.

Energy tax. Sound familiar?
And two people who watched the Democratic convention in 1996 said:

I was absolutely horrified to hear the Democrats propose at their convention that the government should take money out of private pension funds to sink into yet more federal programs.
The Democrats have already raided the Social Security fund to pay for their unending government spending. We do not need them ruining our pension funds the same way!

This is another Democrat scheme to take even more of our money without having to face public opposition to tax increases. We already have to work over four months a year just to pay the taxes on our wages - we should not have to sacrifice our pensions, too!
Vote against the Democrats and Clinton while you still have money in your pension fund, or you may not have any pension fund left when you retire.

The Argentine government seized control of the private pension funds in that country last fall. At that time the Telegraph considered the possibility that other countries would follow suit — Argentina seizes pension funds to pay debts. Who’s next?, October 21st, 2008:

Here is a warning to us all. The Argentine state is taking control of the country’s privately-managed pension funds in a drastic move to raise cash.
Should we worry about our pensions?
It is a foretaste of what may happen across the world as governments discover that tax revenue, and discover that the bond markets are unwilling to plug the gap. The G7 states are already acquiring an unhealthy taste for the arbitrary seizure of private property….

10:19PM Full Metal Patriot — Congress is planning to raid EVERY state’s pension funds to prop up Social Security. This blogger has done some background research, and reminds us of earlier attempts to “redirect” retirement assets:

This rumor definitely caught my attention. After doing a little investigation, it looks like it’s entirely true. Last year, House Democrats were contemplating abolishing 401(k) tax breaks and redirecting those funds into a new system of government-controlled retirement accounts to which all workers would be forced to contribute. And more information about the Democrats’ immoral plans to ransack every American’s personal retirement has been reported on CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and Carolina Journal. Now that they control both houses of Congress and have a big-government socialist in the White House, it looks as though Democrats are ramping up their machinations.

Update August 23, 9:13AM: A reader sends this link, possible reason for the federal government to get into a fight with the states; from the Financial Times — Pension funds back buy-out fight over bank deals:

A coalition of large US state pension funds has backed the private equity industry’s opposition to new rules on takeovers of troubled lenders, saying the plan would have a “chilling effect” on attempts to revive the country’s banking system.

The warning by funds from states including New York, New Jersey and Oregon, which manage billions of dollars on behalf of public workers and are big investors in private equity, will strengthen the buy-out industry’s lobbying against the proposed measures….

Link: American Daughter Media Center - Front Page » Blog Archive » Breaking News — Fed to Steal State Pension Funds

[crippen]

When are the arrest warrants going out for this Ponzi scheme?
NEVER.!

[passengers]

The biggest Ponzi scheme of all is the FED.

[chitown]

I Paid BIG into that system for a couple of decades and I want a refund.

I just got a statement from those liars promising me 1900 bucks a month at age 65.

[wefearourdespot]

I Paid BIG into that system for a couple of decades and I want a refund.

Easier to get a refund from a Thai whore than from a government

[Rural Surin]

When are the arrest warrants going out for this Ponzi scheme?
NEVER.!

Yes, exactly. Quite naive to suggest that any justice or prosecution will be enacted. Politicians and other associated elitist groups don't go to jail. And the rare cases that they are found guilty - they don't enjoy the banishment to real prison.

[Muadib]

I Paid BIG into that system for a couple of decades and I want a refund.

I just got a statement from those liars promising me 1900 bucks a month at age 65.

Not to worry, you'll get an IOU for the $$$ and a bill to pay the taxes on the proceeds you did not receive...

[barbaro]

I Paid BIG into that system for a couple of decades and I want a refund.

I just got a statement from those liars promising me 1900 bucks a month at age 65.

Chitown I think (or thought) you were around the age of 40. If I'm correct, this means you've paid a lot into the system.

[Rural Surin]

Dependency on them. Will always get ya.....

[Muadib]

^ No, it's their dependency on us, the citizens, to continue to pay taxes into a failing system which the government has looted to fund programs the citizens do not need or want... Watch the shiny object...

[barbaro]

^ No, it's their dependency on us, the citizens, to continue to pay taxes into a failing system which the government has looted to fund programs the citizens do not need or want... Watch the shiny object...

SS is in trouble now.

The current gov is spending lots of time on the recession and health care. But SS is lurking just below the surface. SS will be in the news within 1 year.

[Muadib]

^ It will be in the news cycle before 1 year goes by, especially if there is no COLA for SS this year and net proceeds drop due to increases in Medicare costs...

[barbaro]

^ It will be in the news cycle before 1 year goes by, especially if there is no COLA for SS this year and net proceeds drop due to increases in Medicare costs...

SS is still 6.5% for the worker + 6.5% for the employer = 13%, correct?

Medicare for those under 65 is 1.5%, correct?

I haven't worked in the US for quite some time, but I'll have to return eventually.