Social Security In The Red This Year!

Social Security In The Red This Year!

www.washingtontimes.com

Social Security will pay out more this year than it gets in payroll taxes, marking the first time since the program will be in the red since it was overhauled in 1983, according to the annual authoritative report released Thursday by the program's actuary.

(visit the link for the full news article)

"The impact of health care reform is made clear by the Trustees Reports, which show some very positive developments for Social Security and especially Medicare," said Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner. "But they also remind us that we must continue to make progress addressing the financing challenges facing the long-term solvency of these programs."

What Geithner means is they must continue to cut medical costs by cutting doctor fees:

But the actuary said the programs' finances are still troubled in the near and long terms, and warned that Congress is making things worse by putting off scheduled doctor fee cuts.

Doctor fee cuts will simply result in doctors going elsewhere to practice or leaving the field to do something other than medicine!

Obama may be stupid, but the doctors aren't about to take pay cuts due to Obamacare. Leaving is always and option!

www.washingtontimes.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Oh come on, they have millions of these IOU's in the treasury department.

I will even post the pictures, ereugo.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6e3810eda56f.jpeg[/atsimg]


SEE? Look at that, they have ALL kinds of IOU's to pass out. Even though they have spent that money long ago, they have all kinds of IOU's.

Remember the jokes about Clinton running a surplus? That was because the government was taking the 12.4% SS tax and throwing it into the general fund! Yes, Clinton was AWESOME, if you believe the LIES from BOTH parties.

GO totalitarianism! Go bankruptcy! Go lies!

Whatever!

I find myself wondering...
would it be in the red if our gov't had found a way to convince the business to hire here rather than fly away to china or where ever and then allowing wall street to tank the economy, which has led to such high unemployment??

would it be in the red if the lower income brackets (who pay social security tax on everything they earn, had seen the same kind of wage increases as those higher earners (who don't pay social security tax on all of their pay)? not to mention, the gov't has been robbing social security for years and some of that money has gone into helping those lower wage earners provide for themselves and their families!

what the heck, they borrowed billions so that the wall street gamblers could have those nice bonuses.....
they can borrow billions more so that we can get a social security check!

it's all a fiasco anyways, and their recent actions (bailouts upon bailouts, spending upon spending, by both democrats now, and republicans before them) proves it!



[edit on 6-8-2010 by dawnstar]

[edit on 6-8-2010 by dawnstar]

Doctors are not gonna take cuts in fees.
They will just stop taking patients who
have Medicare Insurance. As a matter of
fact, some of them have already stopped
in my area.

Pretty soon, A Medicare Card will be
about as worthless as a hundred
dollar bill.

But look at the bright side ....
you can always burn both of them
to keep you warm

reply to post by boondock-saint




Second line because it is required!

reply to post by plumranch


With respect, a person should not become a doctor because they want an affluent lifestyle, a better car, or indeed a hot wife. Earning the right to delve into the very substance of a persons body, and alter it, when it malfunctions should be the reward for the time spent in education. It ought to be a calling not a cost analysis. I am sick to the back teeth of medical proffesionals complaining about thier problems and then driving home in mercedez benz cars, to thier two or three hundred thousand pound homes. If they are like that in america then they can AFFORD a damned paycut, and dont NEED a ten room palace with a gold and silver encrusted water feature . In short, they can shut up and get on with it.

It was bound to happen, seeing how congress started dipping into the till the second year atfer SS was started. ONE big Scam on the American People. Shame on all of us for living too long

reply to post by TrueBrit

In short, they can shut up and get on with it.

Thanks for your wisdom! I can see you are well informed as well.

In this country no one forces doctors to practice, not yet. My doctor friends often have several career choices other than doing private practice. They often change their careers when they find practice frustrating or non rewarding.

We will see massive losses in the field if government begins dictating prices as they do in Medicare.

My friends who are over 65 tell me that there is not a single practice in this state that takes Medicare patients and if they do they are scheduled in behind regular patients and only rarely can they see the doctor of their choice, ie. they are handed off to the inexperienced doctors.

Why should practices see Medicare patients? There is more paperwork, the government is slow in paying, they only pay 2/3s the going rates for services and the government dictates how and what you do, how you practice.

It's so easy to just say no thanks.

fuzzy math...sorry to say...

This year and next, the program's costs will exceed its take from the payroll tax and income tax on benefits. That's an artifact of the recession, and it's expected to reverse from 2012 through 2014. The difference is covered by the program's other income source — interest on the Treasury bonds in the Social Security trust fund.

That brings us back to this supposed $41-billion "shortfall," which exists only if you decide not to count interest due of about $118 billion.

articles.latimes.com...

unless someone wants to argue that treasury bonds are just worthless pieces of paper that aren't gonna provide a return in the future (a kind of stupid argument wouldn't ya say, since our fine gov't is peddling the stupid things like candy to come up with the money fund their wars, bank bailouts, stupid things like trout bridges....)
umm...social security IS NOT BROKE....
our gov't is, and the republicans are just concerned that social security is gonna have to redeem some of the investments it's made in the past to cover it's cost for a year or two...


[edit on 10-8-2010 by dawnstar]

[edit on 10-8-2010 by dawnstar]

[edit on 10-8-2010 by dawnstar]

reply to post by dawnstar


It seems like a case of stealing from Paul to pay Peter. I fear that if the people that run this country don't start tighting up the belt, S.S. will be the lease of our worries.

[edit on 10-8-2010 by lost in the midwest]

reply to post by lost in the midwest


my son is in the navy, every so often he gets a treasury bond, think it's kind of like an ira, ya know, he puts in half, the gov't the other half...
I think most of the pension funds have a treasury bonds as a part of them, not to mention all these companies, and then there's in individuals who have invested in them....
so, well, if the ones in the social security trust fund isn't good and shouldn't be counted isn't good, what does that say about the rest of them? how about the ones they are gonna peddle in the future???

reply to post by dawnstar


To be honest, I not too sure investing in the US. Gov bonds is a smart thing to do. US money is at a 15 year low against the Yen right now. That is kind of saying that the world doesn't think the US is that great of an investment right now. We are just carring too much debt and until we get a hold on it we will keep on sliding down hill. It not going to be pretty, but as I see it we have little choice.

i don't count on social security.

my investment in my future are my children. the oldest just graduated #10 in his class and is going to Tech. The youngest is only 12, but bigger than most grown men.

They are my "retirement plan".

I have been expecting this since March of this year when the HIRE Act was enacted.

The company I work for is using the tax incentive. Basically, any new hires in 2010 have to pay their SS tax, but the company does not have to match it.

As soon as I read the paperwork, I said to myself this is it, the end of social security. The government telling a small business that they don't have to pay a social security tax, the sky is falling!!!!

Weird just in time for Government health care.

reply to post by lost in the midwest

that might be true, doesn't change the fact...
the social security trust fund has enough interest coming from it's investment of treasury bonds to compensate for any shortfall....
it isn't running a deficit, it won't run a deficit unless the gov't doesn't meet it's obligations, and if it does that, well, the social security system is gonna be the least of our worries!

until that time, well, the social security trust fund should be seen as just as worthy of what is due them from our gov't as any pension fund, foriegn gov't, individual, corporation, hedge fund, or whatever else!

I didn't want to quote your whole opening post, but, there is no need to.

It just goes to show, how bad unemployment is. People are not contributing, by way of taxes. We all know it's much higher than reported.

It's going to p-off a lot of people who paid into the program for years.

Why are people who paid into the program for 35 or 40 years having to wonder? Where is their money?

reply to post by boondock-saint


I'd just like to reply here, as it affects me so, right now.

My husband has MS. He tried to return to work, to get off of SS, in 2008. He worked for 8 months, and got injured on his job. So, we have had to deal with that, and the MS. He also has cronic kidney stones. He worked long enough to get regular health insurance through his job, which is Cigna. So, he has Medicare, and Cigna.

We STILL, get bills, for things not covered, with both insurances!

He has been to the emergency room, 5 times in the last month, and it turns out, he not only has a HUGE amount of kidney stones, but he also has stones in his apendix! God only knows, what this will freaking cost, with 2 insurance companines!

How the FFFFFFFFFFFF, do, people manage? I mean, we have medicare and cigna, and will still owe!

CRAZY

reply to post by dawnstar

that might be true, doesn't change the fact... the social security trust fund has enough interest coming from it's investment of treasury bonds to compensate for any shortfall.... it isn't running a deficit, it won't run a deficit unless the gov't doesn't meet it's obligations, and if it does that, well, the social security system is gonna be the least of our worries!

Has enough interest coming from it.

Meaning that the Congress has borrowed from the Social Security Fund from near its inception, has never paid off ANY of its considerable/ incredible obligations to the people, the Social Security Fund, it has squandered it on whatever the government chooses to squander its money on. Now the government needs to come up with considerable funds to meet its obligations and it can't, it won't be able to and the only way it can is to cut benefits, cut what it is able to pay to doctors and hospitals!

In the military I believe they call this a SNAFU.

Not only have the Baby Boomers been done in, the Xers will be robbed and the Y generation will be working till they are 80 and 90 before retiring because of the excesses of the 60s through present.

So the conclusion is not only get ready, it's coming, it's be careful who you vote for or what goes around, comes around and there is no free lunch!