Social Security

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Yes, Social Security Is a Ponzi Scheme—but We Can Fix It: Charles Krauthammer
 Yes, It's a Ponzi Scheme 
 —but We Can Fix It 
charles Krauthammer
Sep 16, 2011 10:44 AM CDT

Yes, It's a Ponzi Scheme —but We Can Fix It

Social Security can be easily saved, with political courage: Krauthammer

(Newser) - Rick Perry keeps riling people by calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme . But guess what, writes Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post : It is a Ponzi scheme. In fact, it's almost the very definition of one. The big difference is that a Ponzi scheme is illegal while Social Security...

Perry: Sticking to My Guns on Social Security Reform

We must admit the program is a problem, he writes

(Newser) - Many pundits are saying Rick Perry’s views on Social Security could be his biggest problem as he campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination, but the Texas governor isn’t backing down. In an op-ed for USA Today , he declares that we must admit Social Security is a problem—and...

Perry Calls Social Security a 'Ponzi Scheme'—Again

But, he insists, he has never said it's unconstitutional

(Newser) - Though Rick Perry’s aides have been disavowing some of the views expressed in his nine-month-old book Fed Up!, the presidential candidate himself doesn’t seem to be doing the same. In Iowa on Saturday, Perry reiterated the opinion stated in his book that Social Security “is a Ponzi...

AFL-CIO Prez: Obama in Bed With Tea Party

AFL-CIO leader warns organization could ditch Democratic convention

(Newser) - America's top union official delivered a verbal slap to President Obama today, saying Obama has hopped aboard the Tea Party bandwagon while throwing jobs under the bus, reports Talking Points Memo. So it's decision time, says the AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka: Obama can buckle down on unemployment, or...

Perry's 2010 Book Expresses 'Fringe Views'

Fed Up! comes under scrutiny now that Perry seeks nomination

(Newser) - Apparently, when Rick Perry wrote his book Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America from Washington, he did not anticipate running for president. (As proof, see the passage where he explicitly states that he did not write the book “because I seek higher office.”) Now that he...

Social Security Disability Fund: Out of Cash by 2017

Meanwhile, backlogged applicants wait years for benefits

(Newser) - As Washington focuses on how to fix the Social Security retirement program, it’s the disability program that’s truly in danger—and facing insolvency, soon. Flooded with applications from an aging population and laid-off workers with disabilities who can’t find new jobs, the disability fund is now estimated...

US Bureaucrats 'Kill' Thousands Each Year (by Typos)

Social Security mistakes cause huge hassles for the living

(Newser) - The Social Security Administration is killing off thousands of Americans every year, at least temporarily. About one in 200 deaths typed into the agency's Death Master File carries a misprint that officially terminates a living person, cutting off credit, bank accounts, and government assistance for the newly "dead,...

Obama: No 'Guarantee' of Social Security Checks

Without deficit deal, there may not be enough cash 'in the coffers'

(Newser) - If Democrats and Republicans can’t strike a deficit deal, retirees may not get their Social Security checks early next month, says President Obama. “I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the...

Liberals Are Steamed —and It Matters

Progressives in Congress could scotch debt deal: Nate Silver

(Newser) - We won't know for a while what, if any, deal will emerge on the debt ceiling. Or what, if anything, that might mean for Social Security and other entitlement programs. But this much is clear: Liberals are livid that President Obama even raised the possibility of touching them, reports...

Obama Ready to Cut Social Security

President pushing $4T deficit reduction plan

(Newser) - With Medicare already on the table , President Obama has signaled that the other big budgetary time bomb isn't safe from cuts: Social Security. The president is pressing congressional leaders to accept an ambitious plan to slash $4 trillion over the next decade, insiders say. He hopes to use the...

AARP Open to Modest Cuts in Social Security Benefits

It denies major shift in policy, but move shakes up debate

(Newser) - The debate on entitlements reform got a jolt today when the Wall Street Journal reported what it sees a major shift in policy at AARP: The group will no longer oppose cuts in Social Security benefits. Given the group's massive clout, the story raised a ruckus on Capitol Hill...

Need a Baby Name? Uncle Sam Has App for That

Social Security Administration's 'Baby Name Playroom' is free

(Newser) - Why bother with a baby name book when you can go straight to the Social Security Administration … via your iPhone? The SSA, of course, releases an annual list of the most popular baby names in the US, and its new (and free!) Baby Name Playroom app can suggest...

We Depend on Uncle Sam's Cash More Than Ever

Wages lagging as source of income

(Newser) - Americans relied on government programs for more of their personal income last year than at any previous time in history. According to a USA Today analysis of federal data, Social Security, unemployment, Medicare, and food stamps made up 18.3% of the national income last year, while wages accounted for...

No One's Being Honest About the Budget

Both parties' fixes amount to 'wishful thinking': Robert Samuelson

(Newser) - Republicans and Democrats both claim to have a plan to fix the budget, but neither party is offering a realistic approach. It’s time for Dems to admit that “spending control requires genuine cuts in Social Security and Medicare”—and it’s time for the GOP to recognize...

Santorum Blames Abortions for Social Security Trouble

If aborted babies were alive and working, it would be on better footing

(Newser) - Social Security's shaky financial picture is common political territory, but Rick Santorum has a distinctive take on how to help fix it: Abolish abortion. Salon takes note of a Santorum appearance on New Hampshire radio station WEZS in which the conservative former senator and potential GOP candidate links the two...

Disability Fund Is Running Out of Money—Fast

Without changes, could be insolvent within 4 to 7 years

(Newser) - In more we're-out-of-money news : If no changes are made, the Social Security Disability Insurance fund will run dry in four to seven years, according to government auditors. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at some of the reasons why, focusing at length on Puerto Rico, one of the easiest...

Obama's Lying About Social Security

 Obama's Lying About 
 Social Security 
Charles Krauthammer
Mar 11, 2011 1:38 PM CST

Obama's Lying About Social Security

Charles Krauthammer thinks Obama's being dishonest about the so-called trust fund

(Newser) - Entitlement programs are choking our budget, but one of them, Social Security, ought to be “back-of-an-envelope solvable,” argues Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post : “Raise the retirement age, tweak the indexing formula, and means-test so that Warren Buffett’s check gets redirected to a senior in need....

One-Third of US Wages? Government Handouts

Social welfare benefits make up 35% of wages and salaries

(Newser) - More than a third of the total wages and salaries in the US is made up of government payouts, CNBC reports. Social welfare benefits including Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance account for 35% of wages and salaries—a record figure that is up from 21% in 2000 and 10%...

Cranky Alan Simpson Disses Snoopy Snoopy Poop Dogg

And the enema man, because kids these days...

(Newser) - Alan Simpson, known far and wide for his hysterical and/or inappropriate penchant for speaking bluntly, is still very cranky about the federal deficit, and appeared on Fox News yesterday to do what cranky old people do: Yell at the kids. And the old people, reports Politico . “This is a...

America's Young Should Be Mad, Too
 America's Young 
 Should Be Mad, Too 
Fareed Zakaria
Mar 7, 2011 1:18 PM CST

America's Young Should Be Mad, Too

Our leaders aren't focused on investing in the future

(Newser) - Fareed Zakaria sees a lesson for America in the youth-driven revolts sweeping the Middle East. No, America’s democracy is nothing like a Middle Eastern dictatorship. “But if the troubles of Arab youth make us shine a light on the state of America’s youth, the picture that emerges...

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