Was I dreaming when Obama proposed privitizing ss

[floridablue]

Reduce payroll tax for young people and invest it in other things.

[peoli]

1. i think you were

[tabatha]

2. I think he said that the way to fix SS

was to remove the cap for the wealthy. The % they pay for SS is far less than the avergae person.
That has been touted as a good fix.

[Jane Austin]

3. Why, yes. Yes, you were.

:)

[Thrill]

4. Yet another person

who hears what they want to hear. GO read the transcripts

[silverweb]

5. Maybe you were hallucinating.

Obama said no such thing.

He has never, ever advocated privatizing Social Security.

[terisan]

6. He once said it was in crisis , which it is not. nt

[Bodhi BloodWave]

7. Keyword being once

He is correct that it could use some adjustment tho, and as far as i can recall his solution was fairly good

[terisan]

14. I have been corrected. It was not just once. His analysis of the "problem" and his proposed

solution are not good. The problem is not that there are too many people retiring (indeed baby boomers paid and increasrd tax since 1980s to allow for this eventuality. The problem is that the funds of social security were used in the general tax fund to pay for Reagan and Bush general tax cuts to the wealthy thus creating budget shortfalls which they then borrowed from the social security income. (Gore ran on a platform of preventing this by creating a social security lock box- a term media claimed it did not understand).

Republicans don't want to pay the money back (typically they don't want to pay their bills). Instead they want to raise the ceiling on income becing taxed for social security (currently about $97 000) The problem is that 1. in several states and megacities $97000 is a middle income salary and 2. there would be no matching benefit in retirement income to these wageowners. It would be a case of middle class and upper middle class wage earners being overtaxed on Fica to cover the tax cuts granted to the very wealthy by Reagan and Bush.

Obama stated that he would begin the increased tax on wage earners making more than $200 000. This does not deal with the underlying problem-it is the wealthy not wage earners who have been given the tax cuts and it is these people who need to be taxed to repay the social security tax fund.

Obama has received the most money of any Dem candidate from Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street firm that delivers super bonuses to its traders who presumably make billions for their company and investors --billions taxed at low rates.

Clinton has received a close but lesser amount, Edwards the least.

I think each candidate needs to make a clear statement on repaying the social security trust fund and make it clear they will not be beholden to their wealthy contributors.

[fightindonkey]

8. Nope, you weren't dreaming

[mathewsleep]

9. i think

that you are actually pro obama, and are just so negative on him to make his opponents look irrational and stupid, good work.

[RoadRage]

10. His Solution..

Is to take away the cap that is currently in place. Right now, everyone pays SS tax on up to (I believe) their first $95,000 of salary, then it is capped.

Obama has proposed to remove the cap, and tax the same percentage on all income.. not just the first $95,000. I'll see if I can find a link.


Edited to add this:
LINK: http://www.annistonstar.com/opinion/2007/as-editorials-1127-editorial-7k26s0931.htm

Most of the candidates, including frontrunners Rudy Giuliani and Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, have come out in favor of a bipartisan commission to identify the problem (if there is one) and offer a solution. While this gives candidates a way to address the issue without actually discussing it, Obama has decided not to “duck and cover.”

Instead, he has suggested that the issue of solvency can be solved by lifting the income cap that next year will exempt from payroll taxes all annual incomes of more than $102,000.

This proposal has an obvious populist appeal, for more than 93 percent of all workers would see no increase in taxes. And, it has been noted, those in the higher income brackets can well afford to pay the extra.

On the other hand, it is a tax increase, which Republicans (and some Democrats) have made it clear that they will not support, even if the bipartisan commission recommends it.

But will the majority of Americans support it? Will the majority of Americans lobby Congress to adopt this or some other source of income to guarantee that the nation will be able to make good on its promises to its senior citizens?

Obama’s answer may not be the solution we need, but at least he has brought the matter out from behind the doors of a yet-to-be-created bipartisan commission and dared the other candidates to come up with something better — if they can. We can thank him for that.

[terisan]

16. He misidenified the so called problem and his proposal taxes wage earners unfairly

because the higher income wage owner would not receive higher benefits in retirement income under his plan.

The problem is that Reagan and Bush used social security income to cover tax cuts to the wealthy (not wage earners). The money is owed to the social security fund by the government. So far it is not being repaid but it is a debt owed. Clintons budget surpluses would have enabled a pay back but GW Bush spent that money and more. Gore's proposal to not mingle social security funds with general tax revenue (social security lock box) would prevent future embezzlement).

The solution is to put the taxes on wealthy back in place and repay the social security fund.

I think contribution to the candidates' campaigns from Wall Street and other big money interests may be influencing their proposals on social security.

[Lord Helmet]

11. you were definitely trippin

[killbotfactory]

12. Let me have some of what you're smoking

I'm all out.

[Kahuna]

13. Yes. You were. Either that or it's another Team Hillary whisper campaign

that will soon backfire.

[JVS]

15. Are you sure you were not watching Ron Paul?