Stop contradicting my gradeschool science classes, god dammit!
This is the key post of the entire topic.
When you make Johnny L.A. annoyed enough to resort to insults, then you’re good for nothing on these boards other than pissing people off.
I.T.
-Who has never seen Johnny L.A. insult anyone here before in his six year history
Holy crap, is this challenging the Lord of the Rings thread for most posts?
I think the WoW thread is currently the longest. We’re pushing 4k posts there.
There’s a topic that was just called “a” that got above 5000 posts (I think).
Another 43 posts and this will be the most responded-to thread in the Pit. curlcoat can do that herself before supper.
As I pointed out earlier in this thread, curlcoat was the reason the last most responded-to thread in the Pit got to be that.
She is legion.
You are almost right. The thing that you are doing is assuming that I am talking about all civil servants, even when you quoted what I said, which was “tends to” show in the quality of their work. I am well aware that not all civil servants do just enough to get by, but I have also had to sit around the DMV watching them, and stand around the post office and watch them. Can you really say that all civil servants work hard at their jobs?
If you go on about your father like that, without any other examples, it appears that you think he is the typical civil servant.
What you quoted is in response to your post - “SSI (not the same as SSDI, but also administered by the Social Security Administration) is paid to, among others, disabled children who never worked a day in their lives. That’s not a pension. That’s insurance (or a handout, or something, but it sure isn’t a pension).” To which I said back in the day when unions were strong (and maybe even now), they paid out to/for disabled children of employees. Even if they no longer do this, they still pay out retirement to their employees after they hit a certain age, just as SS does.
Uh, speaking of ignorant - I pay taxes on my SSDI. Not to mention my husband is still paying taxes. Which of course just ignores the fact that if my money went to others, why are you getting your panties in a wad because your money is paying me? It’s OK for me to pay into SS to support other people but when it’s my turn, it’s wrong for me to take my SS? I suppose it makes some sort of sense, since you seem to think that anyone living above the poverty level is supposed to send all of their money to the people you think deserve it. :rolleyes:
For one thing, that income in Southern California is not as impressive as it would be in Iowa or Alabama. Our everyday costs are higher, and we pay a hell of a lot of taxes. A couple of years ago, when we thought we might have to move to the St Louis area, I found that I could buy a decent sized house on acreage with out buildings for the equity we have in our tract home here. The gas, taxes, and food are cheaper there. Which would have been reflected in my husband’s salary had we moved out there.
For another thing, simply because it might be possible that we have a higher income than “a lot of America” doesn’t make us rich. I have a lot of trouble believing that a design engineer is making significantly more money than any other business professional.
And, even if we were rich, so what? You want to be able to live reasonably comfortably? Go earn it. Quit expecting others to buy you things.
I don’t know how much more fully it can be explained than what I have repeated ad infinitum: The SS trust fund is made up of SS deductions–that’s how it’s financing is fed, except in circumstances where it will go immediately broke–and on an individual basis, people do NOT contribute enough $$$ to support the future payment stream SS guarantees.
Let’s let that sink in a moment, since nothing else offered changes this basic fact, and people seem determined to ignore it.
So the shortfall is made up from current contributions, exacerbating the problem. That’s the essential flaw in this Ponzi scheme. As I stated explicitly in this thread, one can debate when the collapse will occur. One cannot deny, unless you’re Dick and willing to ignore this essential fact, that the system cannot maintain itself. It is a flawed design.
No other hand-waving “fact” will change this. To offer SS as an example of government efficiency or solid program design is laughable. That’s all.
We have. Stratocaster is correct; you are not.
There is no such thing as a Social Security trust fund that has been built up. All that money has been spent. It is not a government asset. It’s a government debt, and paying that debt will become impossible in about thirty years.
The government borrowed the Social Security money from the taxpayer, and spent it. Some it spent on SS benefits, and the rest it spent on all the other things it spends money on. The government also promised to put the money back, with interest. But without inflating the currency, the only place the government can get the money plus interest is where it borrowed it in the first place - from the taxpayer.
You seem to making the same mistake that Al Gore did before he starting spouting hot air about hot air. There is no “lock box” where Social Security funds have been built up - the government took all that money from the taxpayer, spent it, and replaced it with a promise that it will take more money from the taxpayer and spend that too.
Tell you what - if you still disagree, we can set up a deal. Send me $1000, and I promise to pay you back $5000 in a year, if you send me $5000 next year. That’s a 500% return on your investment. Pretty sweet deal, no?
Regards,
Shodan
You claimed that your SS payments were paying for your current SSDI, which they aren’t. As has been explained to you. Repeatedly and tediously, because you’ve got such a thick layer of fat surrounding every part of your body, including your CNS, that it takes a while to penetrate. Kind of like your husband, when he can get drunk enough to overcome his disgust at your bloated form long enough to close his eyes and picture someone prettier.
I have no problem with my taxes going to support other people, seeing as that’s kind of the point of having a society. What I object to is hypocritical, wilfully ignorant wastes of biomass like you, who castigate anyone and everyone who dares to take support that they actually need to survive, while they themselves gobble up money from the government that they could easily do without.
Waah, waaah, waah. It’s soooooo hard to be you.
Was that really necessary?
I am of the firm notion that since it’s a troll, that it really doesn’t matter what you say to it.
Nope, it was disgustingly gratuitous and rude. curlcoat’s overwhelming willful ignorance just really pisses me off, so I get my little kicks abusing her verbally, which I’m sure she has fun twisting into some sort of martyrdom.
You’re still not answering my question. SSI pays out to qualified disabled children regardless of whether or not their parents paid into the system, or if their parents were in the system at all. The private pensions you described pay out to the children of employees, not to the children of random strangers. The two systems are in no way alike aside from taking in money and paying out money.
So you live someplace expensive. That doesn’t change the fact that your household income is far and away above average.
No, I didn’t, that is simply what you want to believe. As I have said over and over, I paid in money and now I am taking it back. I never said that I think the actual money that was taken from me decades ago is still sitting there waiting for me.
I know it’s far easier for you to assume things - like I’m fat, or my husband doesn’t love me, or a slut or whatever else you have said - but I work with facts, not things I want to believe. Nor do I try to “win” by seeing if I can insult someone away…
And, right on time, we have another assumption. :rolleyes:
OK, that part I didn’t know. However, that also doesn’t make it an insurance policy, if the parents never paid into it.
How can you say that? Other than SS being a forced pension, they both take in money and hold (or pretend to hold) it until you reach retirement age.
Of course it does - our household income is average (or perhaps now, a bit above average) for this area. If we had moved to St Louis, our income would have been significantly lower. Do you really believe that where you live has no impact on how far your income might stretch?
I hope you are planning a cabin in the woods with lots of supplies, because if that is true not getting a Social Security check will be the least of our worries.
The same place government got the money to pay back the debt that financed World War II. And the Vietnam War. And NSF. And everything else.
Tell me, do you have T-bills in your portfolio, and if so, how do you value them? Do you value them at market price, or are you convinced they are worthless? If so, please send me some. I’ll take the risk that they won’t be worth anything in 30 years. I’ll even be a nice guy and pay ten cents on the dollar.
This supposedly unsound system has worked fine for 75 years now. Sure there’s no real lock box, just as there is no vault in which your bank keeps your money until you need it. Is that a Ponzi scheme also?
What about the forecasts of population and age in 30 years don’t you believe? It’s true that with the conservative (in the non-political sense) assumptions we need to make small changes to retirement age and the income cap to keep the system cash flow positive, but it is nowhere near as bad as the system that Reagan fixed. He set up a commission to look at the problem and make recommendations, which have worked really well. I assume you think he was a socialist also. Actually he was just a rational person who didn’t buy the scare tactics of the economically illiterate.
Maybe we should bring back the 2004 debate threads where we kept hearing that investing SS money in the market was surefire, since the market never went down over any 10 year period. Remember that? I’m sure glad the American public recognized what a crock of crap that was. My 401K is just now recovering, but my Social Security is rock solid.