What baffles me is why a TV news host who earns $2.9m a year would go to such lengths to avoid even mentioning a solution that’s been signed onto repeatedly by virtually every Democrat for decades?
I feel so frustrated that the Democratic Party seems so lame and inept regarding dissemination of facts like the cap on Social Security taxation--just one of many factual issues. Can we have reasonable hope that when the real campaigning for 2024 elections commences, they will crucify the Republican lies? This is a life-or-death situation. If they don't perform, we may fall to fascism in one year. Mr. President, this is your administration, and you bear responsibility for enlightening the American public. Please--show us your inner FDR!
Has been a continuing discussion about funding since the Greenspan Commission/Bob Dole fix. At that time, the contributions were increased from 4.4%. We had several times when Republicans tried to put the disability trust find into default. I wrote a paper........Save the Social Security Disability Trust Fund! and Reduce SSI Exposure to the General Fund, 36 J. Nat’l Ass’n Admin. L. Judiciary 142 (2016) https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/naalj/vol36/iss1/4/
The Democratic party is stuck in Carville's, it's the economy stupid, but I am sure that wasn't Carville he was just echoing the B.S. from Rahm Emanuel and insiders.
The Republic party has effectively grabbed hold of the lizard brain, the amygdala which knows only fight or flight, and the Democrats, apparently lacking a backbone, have glommed on to Michelles "When they go low we go high" which is a recipe for losers.
The allies didn't win WWII by playing nice, and taking the high road, Chamberlain tried that and Hitler started WWII.
The Brits also did not pull their punches with their bombing campaign, the fire bombed Dresden, dropped A Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and carpet bombed Berlin, Frankfurt and every town that hosted Hitlers war machine, and now there is whining about bombing Gaza, do as I say not as I do, again.
The Democratic party is a party of wimps, they haven't even weaponized the Republican stance on abortion and civil rights. They keep touting the economy, and people are not voting on the economy or even inflation. The right is voting the culture war, even if their paychecks and standard of living take a hit. Independents if there is such a thing, don't really care about the economy, most of them are well off, fat, dumb and happy, they only care about what affects them personally..
I wish we could light a fire under the DNC, DCCC, DSCC,they are neanderthals living in the past, and lack a spine to take it to the enemy, hanging on to the debunked notion of moderate Republicans with whom they can horse trade and compromise. Just like their megadonors in the carbon cabal, PhRMA, AHIP and the Chamber of Commerce want for the money's worth.
Last week I quit watching NBC News entirely because of their bias even before this. I think we lost them all and all the millionaires who don't want to pay taxes. They will end up paying Trump even more.
Network execs are too smart to be caught up in a cult. What motivates them is money. Money in the form of ads and subscriptions, but ads are where the real money is, and it is the corporations that place the ads (through a duopoly) of ad companies, that the execs have to please. And they know without being told that private equity firms, hedge funds, AHIP, PhRMA, Raytheon, Boeing and the chemical petroleum coal cabal is who pays their salaries of millions.
If it weren't for these oligarchs, Lester Holt andKristen Welker would be dumpster diving.
Good article, Thom. Christie has to know better that this doesn't have to be an issue of raising peoples tax rates.......... just raise the cap so the wealthy will pay more in and our problems with SS and Medicare will be solved.
That's true. I started collecting Social Security in 1997, my allowance was based on an average of my lifetime wages. Most of which were in the military, and most of those were the years in which I earned $300 to $500 a month. I stopped working in late 93 because I had retired again, and my retirement checks from military and CalPers was more than sufficient at the time (not anymore though). My current SS benefits, before deductions is about as much as a widow or a divorcee draws from their husbands benefits. I use it to pay the credit card bill.
If you recall during the 2016 presidential debates Bernie Sanders asked Hillary Clinton three times if she would join him in raising the Social Security tax cap and she refused to answer. Pelosi has said that's not the answer, and Biden has refused to directly answer the question as well. This is a form of propaganda you reinforce on a regular basis. Just because some Democrats say something is a good idea doesn't mean they would ever seriously implement the policy if given the chance. But they do propose a lot of progressive stuff when they are certain it will never be passed. And for the record, most multimillion dollar celebrity "news" anchors lie and omit on a regular basis, whether it's MSNBC or Fox or the "free" TV networks.
On this we totally agree, but it is worse, much worse with the Republicans in charge, they will privatize the whole shebang, selling it to Pete Peterson, Goldman Sachs, and private equity funds. Actually they will more than likely sell or give it to, the Association of Primary Dealers in Government securities.
The list is at this link, click on List of Primary Dealers, these are the same companies that have a monopoly on buying our national debt, which they then sell to the Fed and foreign investors like sovereignty funds https://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/primarydealers.html
We agree on more than you think. I just think that your attacks on Biden and America have the effect of patronizing Putin.
But let me give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume good faith. Doing that I think you have been sucked into the irrational, self defeating ideology of the Democracy hating extreme left.
Amy Goodman named her show Democracy Now, but Democracy is not what she is about, and I was a financial supporter until I finally ascertained her corrupted ideology. She is not a defender of Democracy, but an avid radical Marxist, and Democracy is a tool by which to takedown Democracy and her vision of a Marxist state.
Just like Osama who said, we will use your democracy to destroy you.
Fundamentalist Marxists are ignorant of the fact that Karl was not a socialist or communist, but a proto libertarian, a gold bug and free trader, and his rantings were against the middle class, he called the bourgeoisie, he had no concern for the working class, the proletariat, and he was a Hamiltonian and believed that a country should be run by an elite, especially the financial elite, who subsidized him as The League of Just Men.
Mr. Farrar. Where in DAS CAPITAL do you find these "Marxist" ideas? I read it years ago and do not remember any of what you are claiming. Furthermore, you should know that Marx wrote enough stuff to fill a long book shelf. Perhaps you found it there?
When I was studying international financial institutions Gerald. I obtained documents from central banks, and poured through the the reference library's and attics of two universities. There in I found some very interesting information. Some from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, and from others from old dusty magazines and some from current publications like Business Week.
I had to dig out my footnotes, about 160 of them.Soviet Gold and Marx
. 0. Kuschpeta, The Banking and Credit System of the USSR, Tilburg Studies in Economics, 1978, MaRTINUS Nijhoff Social Sciences Div, Leidenl Boston, 284 pages
Marx and free trade; Google Marx Corn laws (British import tariffs)
I discovered that the Great Soviet Encylopaedia hailed Adam Smith as one of their own and the intellectual father of Marx.
As regards Marx haranguing the southern editors to free the slaves and hire them back at market wages., because his partner Engels, who inherited a textile mill, had to buy inferior but cheaper Egyptian cotton.
I can't find the reference, But my information doesn't come from the scribblings of Marx, whom idiots take as religious text.
Secular or sectarian, it seems people have a penchant and tendency to take the written word as gospel, if it conforms or justifies their fears, wants and needs.
As long as the News Department is a profit center for the broadcaster it will be manipulated to increase viewership so they can up the advertising rates.
It's always about the money for almost everything.
As usual, the real problem with Social Security and Medicare and all the other government programs to help people live, is not lack of money, but lack of the political will to demand that all citizens pay their fair share. Tax hedge fund manager earnings as income, not capital gains, raise the Social Security income cap to reflect their proper level of contribution, eliminate the excessive tax loopholes that allow companies like Amazon to earn billions and yet pay no taxes (Biden has already approached this with the 15% minimum corporate tax) - we can have nice things and pay for them if we demand fairness..... If we succeed in turning back the tide of fascism in 2024 we can then go on to tackle the real problems we have in the time we may have left (if James Hansen is correct).....
It would be better if this subject was included in a high school class course. As it is our kids have no idea in hell about how things work. If they're lucky enough to get a higher education they can choose to learn, but by that time many of them are in debt and have no savings. The lure of new tech, art, sports management, etc. is a bigger draw than learning to manage your own money - until you're making it and having to live on what you make. Parents should teach their kids about how to handle and invest their money but most of them don't know.
Thanks for putting the "payroll tax" in brackets. The phrase is just another example of Frank Lutz's Orwellian New speak.
It isn't a payroll tax, as you know it is called FICA, Federal Insurance Contribution Act, in other words a retirement account, for those who do not have the self discipline to provide for their own retirement, which is the majority, over whelming majority of the citizenry.
Less some think I am harsh, consider this question. How many people have a will, life insurance and have drown up a power of attorney in case they are disabled, or even a disposition of remains dictating the disposition of your corpse.
My wife dictates Terrimation (composting) I dictate Medcure, having med students or scientists use my remains to advance the cause. They will have fun with my head, because there are three titantium screws holding a piece of my skull in place, after a craniotomy
I administer a YDNA surname project. Which company did you test DNA with. DNA testing has nothing to do with wealth or money, except you have to pay to have the DNA processed.
Commercial DNA testing is relatively new Family Tree DNA, where I have my project, was the first company to sell test kits in May 2000
You sure must be wealthy, to put your estate in trust.
Inheritance tax and estate tax are two different things. Inheritance tax is what the beneficiary — the person who inherited the wealth — must pay when they receive it. Estate tax, on the other hand, is the amount that’s taken out of someone’s estate upon their death based on the value of the estate. One, both or neither could be a factor when someone dies.
Another key difference: There is no federal inheritance tax, but there is a federal estate tax. The federal estate tax generally applies to assets over $12.92 million in 2023 ($13.61 million in 2024), and the estate tax rate ranges from 18% to 40%. Some states also have estate taxes, and they might have much lower exemption thresholds than the IRS. Assets that spouses inherit generally aren't subject to estate tax.
I've willed my portion of the estate to my wife, she owns the other half, and she has willed her estate, should she die after me to an animal protection society provided they care for our cats. The estate has a 24 run dog kennel, which is not being used and needs some serious maintenance and repair.
It is my understanding that the Social Security Trust fund is in the form of Government Securities, and IIRC Dubya borrowed from the fund to pay for his war and fund tax cuts, and AFIK the loan has never been repaid.
True dat - the gubmint owes Social Security BIG TIME.....and yes the taxpayers will get to pay back those "loans" (theft) even though they were paid for once by payroll taxes..... Heads they win, tails we lose.....
This used to be my subject. As long as workers are paying payroll taxes, there will be money to pay at least some of the scheduled benefits. However, once the reserves are gone, the payouts will be less than the current benefit amounts. In 2034 when reserves are depleted, the apex of the bell shaped curve for baby boomers will be reached, and after that, the deficit will self correct. https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/static-data/published-reports/frusg/FRUSG_2022.pdf
Once upon a time, I had all the answers. There are 2 SS trust funds, a retirement fund and a disability fund. I would have attacked the slope of the increase that took the base line (x) to 2034, and thus the baby boomer population would decline in the out years.
I tried to address the problem not through taxation but by noblesse oblige. Too many "charities" don't help anybody whereas SS benefits more people than any other entity.
Besides increasing the cap, can also extend the period of qualification. Most benefits are calculated on 35 yeas of substantial gainful activity to produce a primary insurance amount (PIA). The "primary insurance amount" (PIA) is the benefit (before rounding down to next lower whole dollar) a person would receive if he/she elects to begin receiving retirement benefits at his/her normal retirement age. At this age, the benefit is neither reduced for early retirement nor increased for delayed retirement. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/piaformula.html#:~:text=The%20%22primary%20insurance%20amount%22%20(,nor%20increased%20for%20delayed%20retirement.
2034, 11 years from now. I will be 95, my wife 81.
If I am still alive my needs will be pampers and Gerbers :) And my poor wife suffers from fibromyalgia and arthur ritis ( You might not have heard of arthur ritis, but them ritis boys are real sob's, and arthur is the worst of the lot.
No wonder you’re smart as heck. You’ve got wisdom. It shows and counts.
One question. The Trump WS tax cuts were proceeded by corporations clamoring for PPP loans. Proceeded by travel industry and others given bailouts. Did Mnuchin and Trump actually take equity shares in those corporations? Where is the 23T in offshore money Trump was to bring back? Clean coal? Everyone is right that no one knows the truth, the facts, the dangers ahead. Or the answers.
I’d still rather be in our incredibly flawed democracy than Plan 25.
Coal comment was a joke!
The wealthy see SSI, Medicare, everything as a way to get rid of the work shy, the poor, the sick, the old, the undesirables. All too familiar.
Privatized anything leads to morally bankrupt capitalism.
It is my understanding that the Social Security Trust fund is in the form of Government Securities, and IIRC Dubya borrowed from the fund to pay for his war and fund tax cuts, and AFIK the loan has never been repaid.
Correct I use the term government securities rather than the long treasury bonds and notes, actually it included T Bills as well, back in 1984 when I researched and wrote my paper on the Fed and International banking
What about Bush borrowing from the Trust fund, has that ever been repaid?
By law, the U.S. Treasury is required to take the surplus and, in exchange, issue interest-accruing bonds to the Social Security trust funds. The Treasury, meanwhile, uses the cash to fund government expenses, though it has to repay the bonds whenever the Social Security commissioner wants to redeem them.
"The amount of surplus Bush "borrowed" is actually around $708 billion, a little more than half of the $1.37 trillion claimed in the meme. While around $1.52 trillion in bonds was added to the trust funds from 2000 to 2008, the Treasury only has access to the cash revenue collected every year, not the interest accrued on the entire surplus."
Incredible that we never hear anything about this simple and just application. I caught this when, as a new employer 50 years ago, saw the limits for Social Security and Medicare as well. All the hype about cutting benefits is hijacked like you say to influence the ignorant. You’re so right that this should be ingrained with everyone and why isn’t it? Like you say, the elite wealthy control everything. Thank you for spreading the truth.
Three trillion was borrowed from the fund. These are held as securities and the Social Security administrator can request that money at any time. Neither Social Security nor Medicare is going broke anytime soon. We’re more likely to be bankrupted by making it private or by these Medicare “Advantage” plans (why private plans can use the word Medicare is beyond me). Can you imagine if the plans were private and the stock market dropped as it did under Bush 2? There would be wholesale devastation.
Also, Social Security is purchasing an annuity. We put in money, we’re promised a lifetime annuity. A taxpayer who earned near the maximum probably put in more than 200k in his/her lifetime. With even minimum investments, that money is worth at least 500k (I’m not in that field so this is layman talk). Payments made take close to 20 years to exhaust that money, and that’s with no additional interest. And many people pass away before collecting.
The US needs these plans for people to survive. It’s not all about the wealthy. And they’re not entitlements.
Mr. Hartman. It took me some years to finally realize that the oligarchs who own and run this country decided long ago to create two Americas. One for them and one for"us." In this regard they are much like the Aristocrats in Europe from the end of the roman Empire to the advent of the brief period brought on by The Enlightenment. That brief period is coming to an end. The Junkers in Germany stand out especially as an example of this type of historic trend. It is no surprise that the next stage in the American Oligarchs' plan is Fascism.
I am disgusted not even the so called "liberal" media follows through or asks really incisive questions, But I know the answer.
It is the way that the media is run.
First there is the board of directors, who sit on other board of directors, including parent corporations of the company on which they sit. They are paid handsomely to ensure that the company on which they sit as a board member, maximize profits (return on invesstment), They hire executives like CEO, CFO, COO, to maximize profits.
The CEO's, etc hire persons, journalists, hosts, producers who instinctively know on which side their toast is buttered. And TV Hosts sit there with ear buds connected to the producers and editors which instruct them what so say, not to say or emphasize. Check your favorite talking head, next time for ear buds, and if not ear buds they have a monitor in front of them, even telling them what to say, nor say, or rolling as script for them to read.
If they don't follow instructions they get chastised, if they stray too far outside the lines, they get the fate of Tiffany Cross and Keith Olbermann, never, ever tell the truth, nevr ever embarrass the hand that feeds you
I am sickened I don't much watch TV, but later in the day or evening when nothing else to do, I watch recorded shows, and then only some (I am not all interested in the likes of Andrew Mitchell, for instance.
But I can't help notice that regardless of the host or anchor be it Chris Hayes or Maddow, that they never really cover important subjects, like Health Care and Corruption, nor do they ask follow up questions. Not because they are oblivious (well maybe that) but because they know just how far to color outside the lines. Especially those corporations and lobbyists who advertise, like the carbon cabal, PhRMA and AHIP (Association of health insurance providers) that is why your TV watching is polluted by the constant lies of "Medicare (dis)Advantage adds.
The CEO and his downstream sock puppets, know better than to bite the hand that feeds them.
Raising the FICA cap to One Million dollars would provide a lot of revenue. I would like to hear more about what's going on with that. Also, ashamed to say I did not know about Wells Fargo managing the Social Security Fund. First off, how much that is costing the fund and secondly, why is there still a shortfall when the fund is being managed by a professional money management entity? Maybe I'm the only person who missed that info. When did that happen? Let me guess - not Trump, the Republican regime before him. So W Bush and his boys?
Why did NBC go along with GOP lies about social security?
I can't believe I have to say this, truly, but if not me, who? The reason profitable news media decide to report on or omit from anything is because they hold the sacred responsibility to make sure money happens. If money doesn't happen how could they bother saying or not saying anything at all? It's not efficient use of talk if no money happens. What would be the point?
I've heard of people without the money yearning for an entitlement called truth and a unicorn named context. I'm stunned. They can't be for real, but I bet they are. I bet they sure are. We're a selfishly discontent society, throwing fits at having our money go to people who lack the ability to actually earn money. These misentertainment news folks are obviously struggling, OK? They're willing to publicly debase themselves on a daily basis - all for the noble aspiration to make money happen big for themselves and for those struggling above them to make money happen even bigger yet. Can you or I say the same, with a straight face? Probably not, if we're being honest, and honestly I doubt we are.
For their sacrifices and for the greater good of the spirit of charity, I am belligerently unashamed to stand up for what is Right here. We cannot IN GOOD CONSCIENCE steal $9,932.40 PER YEAR from people who, armed only with courage and great wealth, have taken a vow to use their one and only life for the vanity of self and a zealous devotion to make money happen real big always. And not just for themselves - no, no ,no - they're passing it up to those above them who struggle even harder to have the bigger money happen hugely. We should all learn a little something from this. A little something called philanthropy.
We're talking about a mere 1% of the population that needs our support. That's not a lot to ask, if you're in the mood to ask, and if you ask me. Nobody, and I'm serious here, no one is going to get all the money if we don't set aside our daily needs and give. How else will this endangered minority survive if we don't make the money happen for them? It should be viewed as an honor to lift them up by our bootstraps, not a topic for a witty gripe over a fine meal of expired canned ham.
FICA is not stealing money. FICA is an insurance payment for old age retirement, since the majority of the people can't or won't think that far ahead, and without FICA there would be no retirement, and people would die of exposure or hunger. Maybe that's OK with you, but practically having indigent elders in the millions is more of a drain on all of us, than paying a social security check, same for Medicare We pay into it while we work, and after we retire we pay for it, currently $194.40 a month, my wife worked for a municipality that had a social security replacement program, currently managed by Mission Square, she doesn't receive Social Security so they don't deduct $194.40 from her check, rather they deduct $194.40 from her checking account.
The point is that FICA is not a payroll tax it is an insurance premium for retirement, as most people don't have the discipline or ability to set up their own retirement plan with monthly contributions
Actually the point is as plain as the nose on your face. I only repeated it.
Tony fiat money means faith money. It is put out willy nilly by a printing press. Germany in 1922 suffered hyper inflation because their government passed a law allowing corporations to over print the money. The purpose of which was to pay off thereparations levied by the Versaille Treaty.
We and Europe or any country which has a central bank, that answers to the Bank for International Settlements, Basel Switzerland, found in 1929 to handle the reparations, it's first president , Paul Warburg, was also the father of the Federal Reserve Act.
Anyway all monies in existence are created out of debt, banks, based on the fractional reserve held by the Fed's regional banks, can loan out money. Thus a 10% Fed Reserve means that they can create$90 in loans, for every $10 held in reserve.. And by loans I mean all debts public, corporate and private. They monetize checking accounts, corporate bonds, and government securities.
When Jerome Powell dropped the open window borrowing rate to .025 he gave Trump and wall street a fat gift, and the inflation rate, which is based on the interest on the debts, was negligible, and that was the closest you got to "fiat money".
And by the way, as debts are paid off and down, the money created out of debt is wiped off the books, disappears, no debt equal no money in a fractional reserve system such as ours and Europes.
Inflation is caused by the amount of interest on all debts, private, corporate and governmental, and ologopolic control of production and the supply chain. Not Fiat Money, we haven't had fiat money since the American revolution and the Continental, which was counterfeited into obscurity by the Bank of England. Washington's army captured a wagon out of Trenton, NJ it was loaded with counterfeit Continentals, and of course the right wing economists like Friedman, Koch's FEE and Hayek Austrian school blame the resulting inflation on congress printing too much "fiat' money, and in fact it was the Bank of England that was responsible
If interested in learning about money, try this link Modern Money Mechanics, published by the FRBNY, now out of print, tis dry, technical and baffling to those that aren't initates or graduates with advanced degrees in finance. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Modern_Money_Mechanics.pdf
Just found your reply which is driving me a little crazy. You're describing a process I'm not familiar with but that I'm going to parse hell or high water. Money creation and its distribution makes me go full on.
Start here https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Modern_Money_Mechanics.pdf written by the Federal Reserve Bank of NY, it is one of hundreds of free literature that is (or was) available to the public. I was a Graduate student in Finance and accounting and was handed this by my professor, along with other students.
I soon ordered every free pamphlet and literature, and had a foot locker full. I also studied the Soviet Banking and Marketing System, the Bank of Israel, the Bank for International Settlements.
That pamphlet (Modern Money Mechanics) has sytax difficult to wade through because it is not written for the general public, but for bankers and finance students.
I feel so frustrated that the Democratic Party seems so lame and inept regarding dissemination of facts like the cap on Social Security taxation--just one of many factual issues. Can we have reasonable hope that when the real campaigning for 2024 elections commences, they will crucify the Republican lies? This is a life-or-death situation. If they don't perform, we may fall to fascism in one year. Mr. President, this is your administration, and you bear responsibility for enlightening the American public. Please--show us your inner FDR!
Has been a continuing discussion about funding since the Greenspan Commission/Bob Dole fix. At that time, the contributions were increased from 4.4%. We had several times when Republicans tried to put the disability trust find into default. I wrote a paper........Save the Social Security Disability Trust Fund! and Reduce SSI Exposure to the General Fund, 36 J. Nat’l Ass’n Admin. L. Judiciary 142 (2016) https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/naalj/vol36/iss1/4/
Greenspan was an Ayn Rand acolyte.
Obama was ignorant on the subject. https://www.ssa.gov/history/Obamastmts1.html https://theintercept.com/2016/06/02/obama-wanted-to-cut-social-security-then-bernie-sanders-happened/
One of the reasons I don't watch Andrea Mitchell is she is Greenspans wife.
The Democratic party is stuck in Carville's, it's the economy stupid, but I am sure that wasn't Carville he was just echoing the B.S. from Rahm Emanuel and insiders.
The Republic party has effectively grabbed hold of the lizard brain, the amygdala which knows only fight or flight, and the Democrats, apparently lacking a backbone, have glommed on to Michelles "When they go low we go high" which is a recipe for losers.
The allies didn't win WWII by playing nice, and taking the high road, Chamberlain tried that and Hitler started WWII.
The Brits also did not pull their punches with their bombing campaign, the fire bombed Dresden, dropped A Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and carpet bombed Berlin, Frankfurt and every town that hosted Hitlers war machine, and now there is whining about bombing Gaza, do as I say not as I do, again.
The Democratic party is a party of wimps, they haven't even weaponized the Republican stance on abortion and civil rights. They keep touting the economy, and people are not voting on the economy or even inflation. The right is voting the culture war, even if their paychecks and standard of living take a hit. Independents if there is such a thing, don't really care about the economy, most of them are well off, fat, dumb and happy, they only care about what affects them personally..
I wish we could light a fire under the DNC, DCCC, DSCC,they are neanderthals living in the past, and lack a spine to take it to the enemy, hanging on to the debunked notion of moderate Republicans with whom they can horse trade and compromise. Just like their megadonors in the carbon cabal, PhRMA, AHIP and the Chamber of Commerce want for the money's worth.
NBC execs are in the maga cult, simple as that! Recall it is their network that gave media birth to this vile, amoral, convicted fraud!
Last week I quit watching NBC News entirely because of their bias even before this. I think we lost them all and all the millionaires who don't want to pay taxes. They will end up paying Trump even more.
I have not watched network news in decades except for blizzard coverage when they have it.
Network execs are too smart to be caught up in a cult. What motivates them is money. Money in the form of ads and subscriptions, but ads are where the real money is, and it is the corporations that place the ads (through a duopoly) of ad companies, that the execs have to please. And they know without being told that private equity firms, hedge funds, AHIP, PhRMA, Raytheon, Boeing and the chemical petroleum coal cabal is who pays their salaries of millions.
If it weren't for these oligarchs, Lester Holt andKristen Welker would be dumpster diving.
Good article, Thom. Christie has to know better that this doesn't have to be an issue of raising peoples tax rates.......... just raise the cap so the wealthy will pay more in and our problems with SS and Medicare will be solved.
...just ...just ....JUST
....just just isn't just
Not that simple. The way it works, the more a wage earner pays in taxes, the greater the return in benefits.
How about just raising the cap to a reasonable level, like, $500,000 per year of income.
That would surely be a good start at repairing the fund?
I think it should be One Million, but I'd be glad about $500,000. Any amount would be an improvement. And fix the formula.
Simply fix the formula, so simple
That's true. I started collecting Social Security in 1997, my allowance was based on an average of my lifetime wages. Most of which were in the military, and most of those were the years in which I earned $300 to $500 a month. I stopped working in late 93 because I had retired again, and my retirement checks from military and CalPers was more than sufficient at the time (not anymore though). My current SS benefits, before deductions is about as much as a widow or a divorcee draws from their husbands benefits. I use it to pay the credit card bill.
If you recall during the 2016 presidential debates Bernie Sanders asked Hillary Clinton three times if she would join him in raising the Social Security tax cap and she refused to answer. Pelosi has said that's not the answer, and Biden has refused to directly answer the question as well. This is a form of propaganda you reinforce on a regular basis. Just because some Democrats say something is a good idea doesn't mean they would ever seriously implement the policy if given the chance. But they do propose a lot of progressive stuff when they are certain it will never be passed. And for the record, most multimillion dollar celebrity "news" anchors lie and omit on a regular basis, whether it's MSNBC or Fox or the "free" TV networks.
On this we totally agree, but it is worse, much worse with the Republicans in charge, they will privatize the whole shebang, selling it to Pete Peterson, Goldman Sachs, and private equity funds. Actually they will more than likely sell or give it to, the Association of Primary Dealers in Government securities.
The list is at this link, click on List of Primary Dealers, these are the same companies that have a monopoly on buying our national debt, which they then sell to the Fed and foreign investors like sovereignty funds https://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/primarydealers.html
No doubt, and I'm glad we can agree on something!
We agree on more than you think. I just think that your attacks on Biden and America have the effect of patronizing Putin.
But let me give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume good faith. Doing that I think you have been sucked into the irrational, self defeating ideology of the Democracy hating extreme left.
Amy Goodman named her show Democracy Now, but Democracy is not what she is about, and I was a financial supporter until I finally ascertained her corrupted ideology. She is not a defender of Democracy, but an avid radical Marxist, and Democracy is a tool by which to takedown Democracy and her vision of a Marxist state.
Just like Osama who said, we will use your democracy to destroy you.
Fundamentalist Marxists are ignorant of the fact that Karl was not a socialist or communist, but a proto libertarian, a gold bug and free trader, and his rantings were against the middle class, he called the bourgeoisie, he had no concern for the working class, the proletariat, and he was a Hamiltonian and believed that a country should be run by an elite, especially the financial elite, who subsidized him as The League of Just Men.
Mr. Farrar. Where in DAS CAPITAL do you find these "Marxist" ideas? I read it years ago and do not remember any of what you are claiming. Furthermore, you should know that Marx wrote enough stuff to fill a long book shelf. Perhaps you found it there?
When I was studying international financial institutions Gerald. I obtained documents from central banks, and poured through the the reference library's and attics of two universities. There in I found some very interesting information. Some from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, and from others from old dusty magazines and some from current publications like Business Week.
I had to dig out my footnotes, about 160 of them.Soviet Gold and Marx
. 0. Kuschpeta, The Banking and Credit System of the USSR, Tilburg Studies in Economics, 1978, MaRTINUS Nijhoff Social Sciences Div, Leidenl Boston, 284 pages
Marx and free trade; Google Marx Corn laws (British import tariffs)
I discovered that the Great Soviet Encylopaedia hailed Adam Smith as one of their own and the intellectual father of Marx.
As regards Marx haranguing the southern editors to free the slaves and hire them back at market wages., because his partner Engels, who inherited a textile mill, had to buy inferior but cheaper Egyptian cotton.
I can't find the reference, But my information doesn't come from the scribblings of Marx, whom idiots take as religious text.
Secular or sectarian, it seems people have a penchant and tendency to take the written word as gospel, if it conforms or justifies their fears, wants and needs.
As long as the News Department is a profit center for the broadcaster it will be manipulated to increase viewership so they can up the advertising rates.
It's always about the money for almost everything.
As usual, the real problem with Social Security and Medicare and all the other government programs to help people live, is not lack of money, but lack of the political will to demand that all citizens pay their fair share. Tax hedge fund manager earnings as income, not capital gains, raise the Social Security income cap to reflect their proper level of contribution, eliminate the excessive tax loopholes that allow companies like Amazon to earn billions and yet pay no taxes (Biden has already approached this with the 15% minimum corporate tax) - we can have nice things and pay for them if we demand fairness..... If we succeed in turning back the tide of fascism in 2024 we can then go on to tackle the real problems we have in the time we may have left (if James Hansen is correct).....
It would be better if this subject was included in a high school class course. As it is our kids have no idea in hell about how things work. If they're lucky enough to get a higher education they can choose to learn, but by that time many of them are in debt and have no savings. The lure of new tech, art, sports management, etc. is a bigger draw than learning to manage your own money - until you're making it and having to live on what you make. Parents should teach their kids about how to handle and invest their money but most of them don't know.
Republicans borrowed from trust funds, Trump cut the "payroll" tax, ensuring that the trust funds would be depleted, etc.
Thanks for putting the "payroll tax" in brackets. The phrase is just another example of Frank Lutz's Orwellian New speak.
It isn't a payroll tax, as you know it is called FICA, Federal Insurance Contribution Act, in other words a retirement account, for those who do not have the self discipline to provide for their own retirement, which is the majority, over whelming majority of the citizenry.
Less some think I am harsh, consider this question. How many people have a will, life insurance and have drown up a power of attorney in case they are disabled, or even a disposition of remains dictating the disposition of your corpse.
My wife dictates Terrimation (composting) I dictate Medcure, having med students or scientists use my remains to advance the cause. They will have fun with my head, because there are three titantium screws holding a piece of my skull in place, after a craniotomy
I did at 25. All of it. Even a DNA. Still hasn’t made me wealthy, haha, but a trust keeps it a tax free inheritance as that threshold will not be met!
I administer a YDNA surname project. Which company did you test DNA with. DNA testing has nothing to do with wealth or money, except you have to pay to have the DNA processed.
Commercial DNA testing is relatively new Family Tree DNA, where I have my project, was the first company to sell test kits in May 2000
You sure must be wealthy, to put your estate in trust.
Inheritance tax and estate tax are two different things. Inheritance tax is what the beneficiary — the person who inherited the wealth — must pay when they receive it. Estate tax, on the other hand, is the amount that’s taken out of someone’s estate upon their death based on the value of the estate. One, both or neither could be a factor when someone dies.
Another key difference: There is no federal inheritance tax, but there is a federal estate tax. The federal estate tax generally applies to assets over $12.92 million in 2023 ($13.61 million in 2024), and the estate tax rate ranges from 18% to 40%. Some states also have estate taxes, and they might have much lower exemption thresholds than the IRS. Assets that spouses inherit generally aren't subject to estate tax.
I've willed my portion of the estate to my wife, she owns the other half, and she has willed her estate, should she die after me to an animal protection society provided they care for our cats. The estate has a 24 run dog kennel, which is not being used and needs some serious maintenance and repair.
My wishes on my demise was thought to be morbid to people my age back then. Every single thing is mapped out. Wish life had the same assurances!!!
It is my understanding that the Social Security Trust fund is in the form of Government Securities, and IIRC Dubya borrowed from the fund to pay for his war and fund tax cuts, and AFIK the loan has never been repaid.
True dat - the gubmint owes Social Security BIG TIME.....and yes the taxpayers will get to pay back those "loans" (theft) even though they were paid for once by payroll taxes..... Heads they win, tails we lose.....
This used to be my subject. As long as workers are paying payroll taxes, there will be money to pay at least some of the scheduled benefits. However, once the reserves are gone, the payouts will be less than the current benefit amounts. In 2034 when reserves are depleted, the apex of the bell shaped curve for baby boomers will be reached, and after that, the deficit will self correct. https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/static-data/published-reports/frusg/FRUSG_2022.pdf
Once upon a time, I had all the answers. There are 2 SS trust funds, a retirement fund and a disability fund. I would have attacked the slope of the increase that took the base line (x) to 2034, and thus the baby boomer population would decline in the out years.
I tried to address the problem not through taxation but by noblesse oblige. Too many "charities" don't help anybody whereas SS benefits more people than any other entity.
Here's a paper from 2011. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/senior_lawyers/publications/voice_of_experience/2011/winter/social-security-maybe-charity-should-begin-at-home/
Besides increasing the cap, can also extend the period of qualification. Most benefits are calculated on 35 yeas of substantial gainful activity to produce a primary insurance amount (PIA). The "primary insurance amount" (PIA) is the benefit (before rounding down to next lower whole dollar) a person would receive if he/she elects to begin receiving retirement benefits at his/her normal retirement age. At this age, the benefit is neither reduced for early retirement nor increased for delayed retirement. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/piaformula.html#:~:text=The%20%22primary%20insurance%20amount%22%20(,nor%20increased%20for%20delayed%20retirement.
2034, 11 years from now. I will be 95, my wife 81.
If I am still alive my needs will be pampers and Gerbers :) And my poor wife suffers from fibromyalgia and arthur ritis ( You might not have heard of arthur ritis, but them ritis boys are real sob's, and arthur is the worst of the lot.
No wonder you’re smart as heck. You’ve got wisdom. It shows and counts.
One question. The Trump WS tax cuts were proceeded by corporations clamoring for PPP loans. Proceeded by travel industry and others given bailouts. Did Mnuchin and Trump actually take equity shares in those corporations? Where is the 23T in offshore money Trump was to bring back? Clean coal? Everyone is right that no one knows the truth, the facts, the dangers ahead. Or the answers.
I’d still rather be in our incredibly flawed democracy than Plan 25.
Coal comment was a joke!
The wealthy see SSI, Medicare, everything as a way to get rid of the work shy, the poor, the sick, the old, the undesirables. All too familiar.
Privatized anything leads to morally bankrupt capitalism.
Thank you for your service. BTW.
Daniel my brother, can you educate me on this:?
It is my understanding that the Social Security Trust fund is in the form of Government Securities, and IIRC Dubya borrowed from the fund to pay for his war and fund tax cuts, and AFIK the loan has never been repaid.
Mr. Farrar. The Vietnam War was also financed partly by Social Security funds and the money was still not replaced decades after the war was over.
Held in Treasury bonds and notes.
Correct I use the term government securities rather than the long treasury bonds and notes, actually it included T Bills as well, back in 1984 when I researched and wrote my paper on the Fed and International banking
What about Bush borrowing from the Trust fund, has that ever been repaid?
By law, the U.S. Treasury is required to take the surplus and, in exchange, issue interest-accruing bonds to the Social Security trust funds. The Treasury, meanwhile, uses the cash to fund government expenses, though it has to repay the bonds whenever the Social Security commissioner wants to redeem them.
"The amount of surplus Bush "borrowed" is actually around $708 billion, a little more than half of the $1.37 trillion claimed in the meme. While around $1.52 trillion in bonds was added to the trust funds from 2000 to 2008, the Treasury only has access to the cash revenue collected every year, not the interest accrued on the entire surplus."
Apparently Congress was his co-dependent,
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/aug/03/facebook-posts/did-george-w-bush-borrow-social-security-fund-war-/
Incredible that we never hear anything about this simple and just application. I caught this when, as a new employer 50 years ago, saw the limits for Social Security and Medicare as well. All the hype about cutting benefits is hijacked like you say to influence the ignorant. You’re so right that this should be ingrained with everyone and why isn’t it? Like you say, the elite wealthy control everything. Thank you for spreading the truth.
The answer is that crass!
Three trillion was borrowed from the fund. These are held as securities and the Social Security administrator can request that money at any time. Neither Social Security nor Medicare is going broke anytime soon. We’re more likely to be bankrupted by making it private or by these Medicare “Advantage” plans (why private plans can use the word Medicare is beyond me). Can you imagine if the plans were private and the stock market dropped as it did under Bush 2? There would be wholesale devastation.
Also, Social Security is purchasing an annuity. We put in money, we’re promised a lifetime annuity. A taxpayer who earned near the maximum probably put in more than 200k in his/her lifetime. With even minimum investments, that money is worth at least 500k (I’m not in that field so this is layman talk). Payments made take close to 20 years to exhaust that money, and that’s with no additional interest. And many people pass away before collecting.
The US needs these plans for people to survive. It’s not all about the wealthy. And they’re not entitlements.
Tom, you seem to think that media makes mistakes. By and large, it's not on our side, but on the side of its obscenely rich owners.
Mr. Hartman. It took me some years to finally realize that the oligarchs who own and run this country decided long ago to create two Americas. One for them and one for"us." In this regard they are much like the Aristocrats in Europe from the end of the roman Empire to the advent of the brief period brought on by The Enlightenment. That brief period is coming to an end. The Junkers in Germany stand out especially as an example of this type of historic trend. It is no surprise that the next stage in the American Oligarchs' plan is Fascism.
I am disgusted not even the so called "liberal" media follows through or asks really incisive questions, But I know the answer.
It is the way that the media is run.
First there is the board of directors, who sit on other board of directors, including parent corporations of the company on which they sit. They are paid handsomely to ensure that the company on which they sit as a board member, maximize profits (return on invesstment), They hire executives like CEO, CFO, COO, to maximize profits.
The CEO's, etc hire persons, journalists, hosts, producers who instinctively know on which side their toast is buttered. And TV Hosts sit there with ear buds connected to the producers and editors which instruct them what so say, not to say or emphasize. Check your favorite talking head, next time for ear buds, and if not ear buds they have a monitor in front of them, even telling them what to say, nor say, or rolling as script for them to read.
If they don't follow instructions they get chastised, if they stray too far outside the lines, they get the fate of Tiffany Cross and Keith Olbermann, never, ever tell the truth, nevr ever embarrass the hand that feeds you
I am sickened I don't much watch TV, but later in the day or evening when nothing else to do, I watch recorded shows, and then only some (I am not all interested in the likes of Andrew Mitchell, for instance.
But I can't help notice that regardless of the host or anchor be it Chris Hayes or Maddow, that they never really cover important subjects, like Health Care and Corruption, nor do they ask follow up questions. Not because they are oblivious (well maybe that) but because they know just how far to color outside the lines. Especially those corporations and lobbyists who advertise, like the carbon cabal, PhRMA and AHIP (Association of health insurance providers) that is why your TV watching is polluted by the constant lies of "Medicare (dis)Advantage adds.
The CEO and his downstream sock puppets, know better than to bite the hand that feeds them.
Raising the FICA cap to One Million dollars would provide a lot of revenue. I would like to hear more about what's going on with that. Also, ashamed to say I did not know about Wells Fargo managing the Social Security Fund. First off, how much that is costing the fund and secondly, why is there still a shortfall when the fund is being managed by a professional money management entity? Maybe I'm the only person who missed that info. When did that happen? Let me guess - not Trump, the Republican regime before him. So W Bush and his boys?
I'm not surprised the question was muffed. Just like the "Nightly News" the coverage is usually superficial.
Why did NBC go along with GOP lies about social security?
I can't believe I have to say this, truly, but if not me, who? The reason profitable news media decide to report on or omit from anything is because they hold the sacred responsibility to make sure money happens. If money doesn't happen how could they bother saying or not saying anything at all? It's not efficient use of talk if no money happens. What would be the point?
I've heard of people without the money yearning for an entitlement called truth and a unicorn named context. I'm stunned. They can't be for real, but I bet they are. I bet they sure are. We're a selfishly discontent society, throwing fits at having our money go to people who lack the ability to actually earn money. These misentertainment news folks are obviously struggling, OK? They're willing to publicly debase themselves on a daily basis - all for the noble aspiration to make money happen big for themselves and for those struggling above them to make money happen even bigger yet. Can you or I say the same, with a straight face? Probably not, if we're being honest, and honestly I doubt we are.
For their sacrifices and for the greater good of the spirit of charity, I am belligerently unashamed to stand up for what is Right here. We cannot IN GOOD CONSCIENCE steal $9,932.40 PER YEAR from people who, armed only with courage and great wealth, have taken a vow to use their one and only life for the vanity of self and a zealous devotion to make money happen real big always. And not just for themselves - no, no ,no - they're passing it up to those above them who struggle even harder to have the bigger money happen hugely. We should all learn a little something from this. A little something called philanthropy.
We're talking about a mere 1% of the population that needs our support. That's not a lot to ask, if you're in the mood to ask, and if you ask me. Nobody, and I'm serious here, no one is going to get all the money if we don't set aside our daily needs and give. How else will this endangered minority survive if we don't make the money happen for them? It should be viewed as an honor to lift them up by our bootstraps, not a topic for a witty gripe over a fine meal of expired canned ham.
FICA is not stealing money. FICA is an insurance payment for old age retirement, since the majority of the people can't or won't think that far ahead, and without FICA there would be no retirement, and people would die of exposure or hunger. Maybe that's OK with you, but practically having indigent elders in the millions is more of a drain on all of us, than paying a social security check, same for Medicare We pay into it while we work, and after we retire we pay for it, currently $194.40 a month, my wife worked for a municipality that had a social security replacement program, currently managed by Mission Square, she doesn't receive Social Security so they don't deduct $194.40 from her check, rather they deduct $194.40 from her checking account.
... i am missing ur point
The point is that FICA is not a payroll tax it is an insurance premium for retirement, as most people don't have the discipline or ability to set up their own retirement plan with monthly contributions
Actually the point is as plain as the nose on your face. I only repeated it.
What we really need is to come to terms with the reality of fiat money and who should control its distribution.
Tony fiat money means faith money. It is put out willy nilly by a printing press. Germany in 1922 suffered hyper inflation because their government passed a law allowing corporations to over print the money. The purpose of which was to pay off thereparations levied by the Versaille Treaty.
We and Europe or any country which has a central bank, that answers to the Bank for International Settlements, Basel Switzerland, found in 1929 to handle the reparations, it's first president , Paul Warburg, was also the father of the Federal Reserve Act.
Anyway all monies in existence are created out of debt, banks, based on the fractional reserve held by the Fed's regional banks, can loan out money. Thus a 10% Fed Reserve means that they can create$90 in loans, for every $10 held in reserve.. And by loans I mean all debts public, corporate and private. They monetize checking accounts, corporate bonds, and government securities.
When Jerome Powell dropped the open window borrowing rate to .025 he gave Trump and wall street a fat gift, and the inflation rate, which is based on the interest on the debts, was negligible, and that was the closest you got to "fiat money".
And by the way, as debts are paid off and down, the money created out of debt is wiped off the books, disappears, no debt equal no money in a fractional reserve system such as ours and Europes.
Inflation is caused by the amount of interest on all debts, private, corporate and governmental, and ologopolic control of production and the supply chain. Not Fiat Money, we haven't had fiat money since the American revolution and the Continental, which was counterfeited into obscurity by the Bank of England. Washington's army captured a wagon out of Trenton, NJ it was loaded with counterfeit Continentals, and of course the right wing economists like Friedman, Koch's FEE and Hayek Austrian school blame the resulting inflation on congress printing too much "fiat' money, and in fact it was the Bank of England that was responsible
If interested in learning about money, try this link Modern Money Mechanics, published by the FRBNY, now out of print, tis dry, technical and baffling to those that aren't initates or graduates with advanced degrees in finance. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Modern_Money_Mechanics.pdf
Just found your reply which is driving me a little crazy. You're describing a process I'm not familiar with but that I'm going to parse hell or high water. Money creation and its distribution makes me go full on.
Start here https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Modern_Money_Mechanics.pdf written by the Federal Reserve Bank of NY, it is one of hundreds of free literature that is (or was) available to the public. I was a Graduate student in Finance and accounting and was handed this by my professor, along with other students.
I soon ordered every free pamphlet and literature, and had a foot locker full. I also studied the Soviet Banking and Marketing System, the Bank of Israel, the Bank for International Settlements.
That pamphlet (Modern Money Mechanics) has sytax difficult to wade through because it is not written for the general public, but for bankers and finance students.