50 House Republicans Sign Letter to Cut Social Security Benefits

“Social Security provides us the best opportunity to begin solving our nation’s significant budget imbalances”

“the ongoing fiscal discussions in Congress provide an opportunity to address entitlement program deficits...with our limited time frame to take action before we run up against fiscal deadlines.”

The nerve of these Republicans proposing to use our Social Security benefits by "fixing" it and using the money to reduce the deficit by cutting or reducing benefits by,

-Cutting Social Security benefits with a chained CPI cost-of-living formula;
-Raising the Social Security retirement age; and
-Means-testing Social Security benefits.

I personally think this is outrageous, they need to keep their hands off this money, I propose we cut their pay and benefits to fix the deficit.

Being from Virginia I've never liked Eric Cantor. Just the other day he gave the Capitol police a standing ovation for shooting an unarmed woman. Now he's lumping Social Security in with "entitlement" programs along with 24 other brainiacs from the House of Representatives.
For once I actually agree with much of what Boehner proposes sans raising retirement age, that's wholly unfair but at least he's willing to look at the long-term issues facing it.
One thing that does need to be done is make disability requirements more stringent and stop giving it away for every ailment under the sun. Lawyers need to be removed from the process altogether.
Removing the income cap on FICA would do more than anything else to make it solvent.

[we all knew this would come.thieves never stop until they have it all.and you are right in saying we should cut the pay of those in Washington.after all,aren't they the whole of our country's problems?my friends,I am deeply concerned about the direction this country is heading.why are people in Washington making such high wages anyhow?aren't they public servants?why should they make more then the public sector then?there are so many questions that need to be addressed.it appears as though congress has lost all of it's backbone,and should be completely fired,and even some tried and convicted for treason.our country is dying,and no one cares..it reminds me of the movie the titanic,only the elite or rich have the right to live or survive comfortably.all men no matter were they are what color they are have the right to live free and within their own means or ability.our govt is sick,and needs to be healed,or at best everyone fired and a new face put on.this will not happen because our countrymen have become selfish,self centered,and beyond words I care not to speak.
I am saddened and distressed because I know my children will not have the same opportunities or freedoms I had when I was young.corruption has run so deep that I am astounded to say the least.who can prosecute these people?who in Washington will stand for freedom,justice?no one will.there is so much I could say;but who cares to listen?who cares what goes on?no one that is who,and those of us who do,haven't enough power to do anything but sit back and watch it unfold.
we cannot even rely on the justice system anymore to uphold the law of the land,holder is corrupt,it is evident in this fast and furious case that has been swept under the rug.what presidents wife would say "all of this for a damn flag" ? evidence suggest that we are being taken over from the inside.traitors are now in control of our country.how does a scientist come to conclusions ?I'll tell you how; by observation.
well my fellow Americans be aware observe,be vigilant because something is out of whack in our govt.highly questionable acts are being committed right before your eyes. these people think we are inferior and cannot fathom the depths of their treasonous acts.and now ,of all things they want to take social security.
how far will they go?A better question is,how fr will the people of America let the go?all the way to destruction?I shudder to think this could be true.but none the less I fear it is the truth.one can only stand back and shake his head in wonderment at the going ons in this country in this day and age.it is insane to say the least.any rational mind can see this.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


I am totally against raising retirement age, to me it is hoping someone dies before they can access the money they put into the program. I don't know about you but I have no desire to work til I am 70 years old, I would actually like to enjoy retirement ... Not go straight from work to the nursing home

Now I am not all that much against the means testing but can also see it being used to deny benefits to people that actually deserve/need it.

My biggest concern, is that they continually keep finding ways or proposing ways to make less people eligible for the program and finding ways to use it for means other than what it was meant for.

My last concern is a selfish one I suppose, I guess some would say but I am paying almost 10,000 a year into Social Security. If they raise retirement age to 70, I have 30 years before I am eligible for the benefits, I will have paid in almost 300,000 dollars(from this point forward, not counting previous years) ... Will I ever see a return on my money? Will it be there IF I make it to 70? If not, or I have a chance of being denied why the hell am I paying on this every week ...

I just turned 27 a few days ago. I'm pretty sure before I get halfway to retirement, it won't be there. Or if it is miraculously still there, there will be new limits/regulations or whatever these people can think of to stick it to the general population.

reply to post by cconn487


No doubt, would love to be able to opt out of this sham and invest the money elsewhere. Sooner or later they will get their hands on it, to pay for problems they created.

reply to post by Tazkven


AMEN AMEN - Have they even gone far enough though? I guess that'll do for now - until such time as we have full representation in the Senate in 2014 - then the whole great kahuna in 16

By the way - This disabled Vet collects SS AND several other government benefits making twice what I did while employed, and when I worked (which was my entire life) they stole half of my paycheck so when I calculate my income now I just "double" it, because its all tax free, So now I'm in sh__t City -

I despise the mis-use of the term "entitlement" and the manner in which its referred to these days. I am 'entitled' to it because I 'earned' it. The way the term is used today its as though I am a ward of the government and that's total nonsense- BS politician talk.

Under their convoluted definition I guess you could call me an entitlement whore(master).

Ahhhhhhh the good life.....

I am not sure I agree with the wording in that letter calling social security an entitlement program. Perhaps ssi but not ssd, as most who claim ssi do so because they never paid into ssd so they have nothing to claim. I have many gripes against ss especially the process and hoops you have to jump through to claim it. If you have been paying into it, no choice not to really, then you should not have to hire a lawyer etc just to access the money you paid into. Not to mention the years on average it takes for the typical claim to be approved again 99% of the time only if you have a lawyer fighting for you. As has been said many times before if we were allowed to invest that money into something else that was put into an account individually rather than a pot then things would be different. I guess the whole problem rises from the fact we allowed them to "dip" into the funds to begin with to supplement their budget problems. As usual the whole thing stinks and it's gonna be the people who really depend on it that get shafted, and remember not all recipients are grandma and grandpa, there are many younger folks disabled for one reason or another that depend on it. Which yes those cases need to be tightened up a bit as well to not include silly claims and go to people who are actually disabled.

oh...ok. So all those people who thought they were about to retire and have recently lost their jobs in the last few years like some of my relatives, now are going to realize they may need to hit the job market to hold them over until they can actually retire, which is no doubt going to do wonders for the already suffering job market.

It's unacceptable that they wold even attempt to promote this idea during public hardship.

How hard do they need to be shaken?

Somebody needs to tell these idiots that we know how much money they spend on useless crap.

WHERE'S THE LIST.

Somebody help me start compiling a list OF ALL THE USELESS CRAP they spend money on since they can't get into their heads that the masses are human beings... not disposable objects.

There will be no satisfaction until their crooked monetary system COLLAPSES!!!

Are there any other programs helping people during one of the worst times in our history that these cold bastards would like to cut right this moment?

If they really believe they'll ever see a vote from any reasonably minded person again, they've been smoking stuff stronger than medicine. Shame on them..... Our Country is flopping around like a pathetic fish on the dock while the world LAUGHS at us ...and they are busy looking for more ways to spread the pain.

Oh.....whatever their approval rate is, it's too damn high. FIX THE ECONOMY, then go reform what is keeping people ALIVE right now. Damn them all.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Their approval rates are sinking like stones ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With the Republican-controlled House of Representatives engaged in a tense, government-shuttering budgetary standoff against a Democratic president and Senate, the Republican Party is now viewed favorably by 28% of Americans, down from 38% in September. This is the lowest favorable rating measured for either party since Gallup began asking this question in 1992.

Gallup

Why sure, take social security and Medicare and food stamps but damn you if you suggest maybe stopping welfare payments to big oil and pharma. You haven't heard one peep of stopping oil subsidies from either side. They both suck but republicans are the worst.

The American people and being goaded and poked and pronged into action.
When Lord, When will they raise up and kick arse?

Remember all those guns that people like to collect in order to fight against government tyranny???

just sayin...

If anyone needed proof that the republicans are just as bad as the democrats, well here you go then.

Whatever funds existed in the SS trust fund, got transfered to the general spending fund during Johnson's term I believe. I think its called misappropriation of public funds and fraud in legal terms. Any law group willing to sue their asses into oblivion? Heck just embarrasing the # out of them would suffice for me. The money is long gone that is why raising the debt ceiling is tied into the ability of making timely payments.

I think its utterly disgraceful that BOTH republicans and democrats are using SS as leverage to force a higher debt ceiling. Not a single goddamm person is talking about jobs, about stopping the war machine and the black budget which is rumored to be very high, about restoring SS in a true sense by increasing the cap employees and employers contribute, taking away SS benefits from those that make enough and dont need SS even if they contributed during their working years.

You simply dont talk about increasing the age which imho is already high, should be about 60, you dont talk about taking away an entitlement program. An entitlement program means in plain english you are entitled to something and its not free!

reply to post by Tazkven


i concur with your thoughts on the mutations already in place with Social Security benefits


but this last item...

Will I ever see a return on my money? Will it be there IF I make it to 70? If not, or I have a chance of being denied why the hell am I paying on this every week ...

if nothing else, when yor reaching that 70 year entry point for collecting...
make sure that you have children & a much younger spouse that can receive the 'Survivors' benefit payments from social security.... they will continue receiving a portion of your account $ until either age 21 for the minors or until death for the non-working spouse..

if one engineers it right, you can 'arrange' to wring out the most money possible from your social security account




ADD:

another point i have is that the COLA (cost of living adjustment) is a farce...weighted to the advantage of the government to pay-out-less.
Some years, the COLA was summarily swept aside because the SS recipients were gaining too much compared to the workforce whose wages were stagnant

i believe that Oct 16th the CPI figure for the 3rd quarter , which is the basis for any COLA increase, will be released.... I am more than certain that the CPI will be less than the 1.7% limit for any COLA ...an arbitary limit already imposed by Congress
...even though the real CPI is above 10% the Congress arranged that the BLS will use useless items to give us a false sense and condition of the economy & our personal costs to maintain an acceptable standard of living (which includes food, fuel, energy and health care premiums...things such as those which are Not included in the present CPI index list
It's all rigged so that most of the money pie stays in the general fund so that Congress can slice a piece for their own pet projects to make themselves either richer or reelectable or making friends with some lobbyist ~

attempted humor with the i in Lobbyist

I can see if they cut disability because it's way too easy to get anymore. My wife gets nearly $1700 a month because she's depress about having to retire against her will on top of the $2600 and free insurance she gets every month

reply to post by EarthCitizen07

If anyone needed proof that the republicans are just as bad as the democrats, well here you go then.

Agreed. Democrats may well want to tax and spend us into the abyss ...but Republicans are looking to cut us into it. Starting, it seems, with the programs to cause the maximum pain. Sorry losers. Every last one of them in Washington.

Obama and Co. are using the short term problems of this budget nonsense to cause pain so we'll vote his way in 2014 and 2016. Boner and Co. are using the long term and much DEEPER pain of cutting what is keeping many people from total rock bottom right now, so we'll be pissed at Obama and vote against him in 2014 and 2016.

Neither of the are a bit better than the other. Losers... All of them. Every last one. Losers. Bah!

Geetings,

What I don't understand (at this point) is why any this suprises anyone at all?
At the risk of sounding like I am bashing...greedy, lazy and corrupt people will get greedy, lazy and corrupt leaders. Garbage in...garbage out...just like that.
At least that's how I (and George Carlin) see it.

-Amitaba-

mikell
I can see if they cut disability because it's way too easy to get anymore. My wife gets nearly $1700 a month because she's depress about having to retire against her will on top of the $2600 and free insurance she gets every month

It's not that easy.

that has got to be an exaggeration.

i know people who've had cancer with no disability.