Social Security and the Angry Society
By Andy Carpenter 
That was an interesting take on the problems of Social Security. At least you admit there is a problem, but the other problem is that just paying higher taxes won’t by itself solve the problem because the dirty rotten pols will just steal the increase as they have with what’s been done so far. The SS funds must be separated from the rest of the fed funds and invested somewhat for a higher return, so hopefully it can grow into something real. There is no real trust fund since what’s there are just IOUs from one part of the government to another that can only be paid with taxes. With crimes of this size and importance, someone should go to jail… for a long time… but that’s another story. Repairing the faith and security of the system is much more important. But getting the pols to do that will be almost impossible since they all feed off it in the same way. The American people are being robbed blind and the pols and their finance industry buddies are doing something no outside power could do… destroying the greatest country in the world and all for greed and privilege. Thank you for letting me get this off my chest. David T. And, that my friends is the prevailing view from America… or least the commonly shared view of the multitudes that responded to last week’s piece on the corrupted US program known as Social Security. There are more of your responses below. I am often pigeonholed as the ultra-liberal voice among IDE’s seven strong opinion makers. But your responses to last week’s piece show that no matter what we all believe about issues that don’t put a dime in our pockets – issues our politicians would rather we actually worry about – we all do share a fairly common concern about our personal financial health and the responsibility we feel to our kids. The latter point is key, because no matter where we stand on some issues, I think most of us are very concerned about the world we are leaving our kids and grandchildren. This is not a real revelation to me, because I’ve always believed that the US’s citizenry is a compassionate lot. But, I wish I could share your views with other financial publishers – and politicians – because your responses reinforce my belief that Americans are not the overly self-centered, supremely greedy people that we are so often portrayed. For those of you who missed last week, I wrote that Social Security is in the tank – benefits are about to be cut and the eligibility age about to be raised – because all three presidential candidates have yet to peep a word about it. But there is an easy fix. To amplify on that a bit – and you seem to agree with this – the problem with the US’s leaders in Washington is that they don’t lead. Change only happens when they figure out how a program can benefit their real constituents, which are not you and me. So, until some big donor can benefit, there’s no real impetus in Washington to solve the Social Security mess. Even worse, as the majority of you wrote, there is the strong possibility that should Social Security raise enough funds to become solvent again, politicians would just find new excuses to raid the fund. For all my optimism about the US, I fear you are likely right. Because, our elected leaders in Washington are not for uniting us – in fact, that scares the crap out of them. They are about dividing us, because creating a polarized society perpetuates political incumbents… nothing more. Whose God is God…
Who is more Christian than thou…
Who has the right to kill Bambi with a howitzer or handgun…
Who’s a patriot and who’s not…
What’s patriotism and what’s not…
Who gets to define who says what on TV, radio and CDs…
Who does what in the privacy of their own bedroom…
Who has the right to marry and who doesn’t… That’s all stuff that may be important to us as individuals – I repeat, truly important stuff to us as moral individuals – but it was turned against us in a mass propaganda effort to divide us. And not for our own good, but in a pernicious and deliberate manner that allowed Washington – with the help of its friends in the media – to camouflage its arrogant rape of US coffers. As people, we now believe that symbols are substance. Until we demand more of ourselves, we cannot change this utterly corrupt system. Now, let’s move on to more of your responses. Lock and load. Andy P.S. To let me know what you thought of today's article, send an e-mail to: feedback@investorsdailyedge.com.
INTERNAL ENDORSEMENT One CEO Just Bought 120,000 Shares Of His Company’s Stock This Huge Insider Play Is Detailed Inside an Urgent Special Report – Yours FREE with no Obligation! IDE is set to roll out a new service from an acclaimed China/Asia investment authority. And we wanted to get you something for free while this expert is still hyper jazzed about working with us. He has delivered to you a superb report that’s simply called, Two High-Potential China Small Cap Plays. You’ll flip when you read these profiles… especially the one where the CEO just paid cash for 120,000 shares of his company’s stock, while increasing his company’s earnings guidance by about 10%. Discover who the China/Asia authority is and download his special report, Two High-Potential China Small-Cap Plays right here.
I am Mad as Hell… By Andy Carpenter Here is one of my favorites from the mass response that came in… only because it allows me to tout my wife’s fabulously profitable options service. And, of course, it references by beloved Red Sox. I note this with some risk, because (little known fact) my boss, IDE Executive Publisher MarryEllen Tribby, is the biggest damn Yankees fan I have ever met. From Tom in Albany, GA
Thanks for the great article on Social Security. I, too, am disillusioned with today's politicians. I just don't understand how they (on both sides) can be so short-sighted on something as important as SS, as well as other looming problems (the weak dollar being my greatest concern). It is obvious that the level at which the tax is applied should be raised, probably nearly doubled to $200K or so. And they have to stop raiding the fund. But I doubt any of the three show dogs running for president this year have the balls (or ovaries) to do it. Also… I look forward to subscribing to Lynn's The Optionist. I am a fan of hers as well. By the way, how did a mutt like you get an attractive lady like her?! Only kidding, I too married way above my pay grade. Keep up the great commentary, and go Sox! From Tom A. in Sacramento
As the subject line says, rarely do I agree with you. In your latest posting referring to President Reagan, I believe you have begrudgingly acknowledged that Ronald Reagan had some good ideas (similar to what I am saying to you here). In this case, I agree with you on two specific points. First, the politicians “raped” social security in order to buy votes (politicians cite service to our country often – bullshit). They will, as you say, screw the country in order to get re-elected. The second item I painfully agree with is the fact that you probably need to “index” the top tier for inflation. This would have the added effect of forcing our “leaders” (quotes intentional) to be more mindful of inflation – taxes would go up with inflation. However, if I were to agree to increasing top tax rates on the top incomes, I would want to limit how politicians use social security to pander for votes: no more social security to political émigrés who never paid in, and other political shenanigans that helped rape social security – in order to gain more votes. I would, in a perfect world, love to see pensions for politicians replaced by social security – wouldn’t that be great! From Ed M.
Sounds like the rest of the fix plans more garbage on garbage. From S.S.
A little bit of communism is like a little bit of cancer. You can have my Soc Sec as long as I don’t have to participate. Give Liberal Fascism [The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning] a read. From D.F.
I think you should have made it clear that today's benefits are being paid from current Social Security tax receipts. In about 2017, the taxes will no longer be enough to cover the benefits, and they will have to turn to the trust fund. Since there is nothing but IOU's, they will have to raise taxes or cut benefits. You can't pay beneficiaries with IOU's! From Martin M.
We had Social Security totally handled. Then the "do-gooders" convinced much of America to stop smoking and longevity increased causing longer periods of collecting SS for too many recipients.
Also, SS tax should be applied to every dollar earned. Why should Bill Gates pay his SS obligation in the first 14 seconds of the year? From Mark N.
Andy, Great article.
Would a mandatory 401k and the gradual removal of social security all together work better? Also, change the rules for 401k withdrawal to reasons of unemployment or health only. Thus removing unemployment insurance if you were maybe 10+ years vested in your 401k. Giving good employees a raise when their kids go to college. If you put 6.2% of your pay in a 401k with a 3% employer match (and the employer did not need to match social security 100% anymore) you should retire with millions instead of 1750.00 a month. Politicians Screwed America Bad. I heard they collect from social security just for being a politician. Even if they never paid in they collect from our social security? Is this true? I'm 51 and do not want to wait till 66 1/3 to retire, but I know politicians will move it to 70 by the time I get there. I am just venting, but thanks for the good article. From S.C. in Morganfield, KY
I suppose you would, of course, want to raise the caps on benefits also. If an individual’s cap on taxes goes up then surely the cap on his benefits would also increase. If not, then you would just be redistributing wealth and I know you would not be in favor of such a socialist idea as that. From Kerry Mc.
I am glad you asked for comments. There are two things that should be done to fix the system. One, as you said, is to raise the cap so more people pay in. However, there is a more significant cure that needs to be done. When the system was first created it was, indeed, designed to be a safety-net. The idea that would preserve the system forever was to make the retirement age slightly past the average lifespan of an American. If this was 57, then set the retirement age at 60. This worked great in the early years, back in the depression and during WWII when lots of people were dying young. But then something happened: we started living way too long. The current retirement age of 65 is about 20 years too soon. So now we have way too many people drawing SS that should be either working or using their own savings. Therefore, the age at which you can draw SS has to be raised to around 85. That would serve to keep better-educated and trained workers in the job force, would inject even more money into the SS fund since instead of drawing from it they would be paying into it. Those who planned ahead and saved enough to retire without SS and who really didn't need it would still be able to retire, but would not draw SS. From Joseph
The solution to the problem presented by Social Security is to allow the individual to deal with his/her own retirement issues and not rely on welfare from the "state". How long will it take for the masses and experts, like yourself, to realize that seeking to solve problems through a fictional external authority (government, religion etc) is FUTILE! The people operating through those entities actually cause the problems which they claim to attempt to solve. Offering the "illusion of solution” within a fictional and fraudulent "state” system is the worst thing an author could do. Your otiose suggestion is that the state continues their fraudulent thievery to feed a welfare program. Even if your scheme accomplished its goal, the underlying problem would continue to exist. The state is merely a destructive institution, which history has proven will eventually destroy the society it pretends to serve. Privatizing every function of the state is the way to solve state created problems. Asking state agents to solve societal problems is like a farmer asking a group of foxes to protect his chickens. From D.R.R.
I, for one, think you have hit the nail squarely on the head. I am 78 years old, and have always said the federal boys are raping the people. Your proposal sounds good, if we can just get someone with guts enough to go through with it. I'm very skeptical. Keep up the good work. From Don B. in Austin, TX
Mr. Carpenter - Good, gutsy article... and I am a lifelong conservative who usually votes Republican! If your numbers can stand up to scrutiny, I propose that you get your recommendation into Washington, FAST! Then go to work on saving Medicare! That has to do it for this week. I’ll be spinning more of these out as the weeks go by, so if you missed a chance to call me a bonehead or brilliant, there’s still time. Hit the response button just under here. And, to those of you who haven’t seen your response yet – especially the great “liberal kookie” letter – don’t worry they’ll see the light of day. Enjoy the weekend. Andy
INTERNAL ENDORSEMENT INVESTMENT PORNOGRAPHY To heck with men’s magazines… you’ve seen it all before anyway. Here’s what a real centerfold should look like. 373%... 233%... 220%... 159%... 153%... 100%... 185%...
103%... 104%... 188%... 121%... 116%... 111%... 107%... 108%... 210%... 113%... 238%... 261%... 271%... 139%... 200%... 214%... 178%... 200%... 119%... 133%... 368%... 158%... 142%... And, you won’t even have to hide it… you can even
brag about it to the ladies! Find out more right here about the one
subscription you must have.
If you enjoy IDE's daily investing advice, you'll definitely be interested in checking out our sister publication, Early to Rise. Each morning, you'll get powerful wealth-building advice covering real estate, entrepreneurship, personal finance, marketing, and much more.
Sign-Up for Early To Rise today!
To unsubscribe, Click here To change your email address, Click here To cancel or for any other subscription issues, write us at: Investor's Daily Edge
245 NE 4th Ave, Suite 201
Delray Beach, Fl 33483
Phone: (800) 681-4759 | 
