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Dance to the Music

More taxes & pay cuts to save Social Security & Medicare

Technician
USDA
Thu Aug 2, 2007 10:30 AM

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There seems to be a lot of Medicare fraud among doctors & hospitals. What people have to go through for testing & treatment seems to center around the doctors & hospitals getting as much from claims as possible. How about looking into that kind of cutbacks to save the Medicare system from running out of money when it's time for baby boomers t need it. "Fixing the leaks seems to be a wiser strategy than to keep putting more water in the barrell." The working population can't keep being responsible for everything. Cutting waste & fraud instead of paychecks is the answer.

Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes

General Supply Specialist
DoD
Thu Aug 2, 2007 10:32 AM

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The Fair Tax is a bill in Congress to replace the Federal income tax with a Federal national sales tax. Along with eliminating the Federal income tax and the IRS, it also eliminates Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes for individuals and employers. Funding for these two programs would come from the 23% Federal sales taxes collected. With approximately 160 million workers paying into these programs, they will both go bust in a few years. Under the Fair Tax, approximately 320 million consumers (including foreign tourists, many illegal aliens, and criminals that don't pay into either system under the current income tax) will be paying into both programs. When you double the base paying into the programs - crisis over!

Re: Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes

Staff Accountant
dfas
Fri Aug 3, 2007 9:07 AM
The problem is not in the law, but the law makers. If the same people who write our current tax code set up a value added or sales tax, you would see things like exhemptions for sugar made form Lousianna sugar beats, extra tax penalties on steaks because someone in Washington has decided that only the rich eat steaks, etc.

There is nothing inherently wrong with paying a tax based on your increase (income). Many of us do something similar when we write our tithe checks in church. What's wrong is that special interests have made a mess of it. If the same special interests have at a VAT, (and they will), in short order the "Fair Tax" would be just as odious as what we have now.

Social Security and Mediacre Crisis

Retired Fed After 40 Years Service
Commerce
Thu Aug 2, 2007 1:12 PM

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The Federal government takes back half of my Social Security check and all of my survivor benefits under the WEP and GPO offset laws. This is just a form of "means testing", but it only applies to those who have had a government (local, state, federal) career. If Social Security was means tested for everyone, millionaires included as Perot said, then the crisis would end overnight with no need to increase taxes.

If Medicare became the "second payer" instead of the first as at present, the first becoming private health insurance policies like the FEHB, then the bail-out for the health insurance industry would end and the Medicare crisis would also end overnight without the need to increase taxes.

If only legal US citizens were allowed to qualify for payments from both Social Security and Medicare, then taxes supporting these programs most likely would decrease.

Since the above makes so much sense, the bought and paid for Congress will never make them happen!

Re: Social Security and Mediacre Crisis

SSA C.R.
SSA
Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:59 PM
Yet another retired government worker irrationally complaining about WEP and GPO without understanding what is going on. Here are the basics.

WEP- or the the windfall elimination provision is designed to insure that retirees who pay the bulk of their retirement contributions into a system other than Social Security do not get an undue advantage. SS benefits are weighted to pay a higher return to low income wage earners. Why should you get a higher rate of return for the 5 years you contributged to SS after you spent 40 years contributing to OPM?

GPO is designed to put the person who gets a gov pension in the same position as if they were drawing a social security spouses benefit. Basically, your benefit as a spouse is reduced by two thirds of your government pension. This is substantially kinder than what SS does to spousal benefits from Social Security. If you are recieving your own benefits and a spouses benefit, the offset is 100%, so quit yer bellyachin'

Re: Social Security and Mediacre Crisis

worker
us govt
Wed Aug 22, 2007 2:00 PM
If I pay for a 10 ounce steak when I eat out, I expect a 10 ounce steak, not 8 ounces. If I pay into SS after a federal career I should get what I pay for. PERIOD.
It is not fair to deduct from my pay in an after retirement job and then penalize me because I chose a federal job
once I qualify for SS.

Re: Social Security and Mediacre Crisis

SSA C.R.
SSA
Wed Aug 22, 2007 11:00 PM
The problem sir, is that you paid for a 10 oz steak and now expect an 18 oz serving.

Pension

Soil Conservationist
USDA
Thu Aug 2, 2007 1:24 PM

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I'm on the CSRS retirement system and will receive no Social Security funds.

Re: Pension

HR Specialist
DOI
Tue Aug 14, 2007 10:19 AM
You don't get social security because you were able to make larger contributions to your CSRS retirement fund. FERS employee do not have that choice. The FERS retirement system is made up of FERS contributions, TSP contributions and social security contributions; unfortunately, we do not have the confidence or assurance that CSRS employees have in that there will more than likely be very little or no social benefit for the dollars that have been contributed to social security - so stop your whining!

Re: Pension

Intelligence Specialist
Dept of the Army
Wed Aug 22, 2007 8:53 AM
I am also a CSRS employee. I will not be able to draw my husband's social security if he dies before I do. Right now, we depend on both incomes. I would expect that my pension alone would not be enough to live on should he die before me. Social security was designed to pay the surviving spouse an income, however much that might be. I don't see this as 'whining' or 'bellyachin' so much as stating facts of life. Don't be so quick to judge.

Re: Pension

SSA C.R.
SSA
Wed Aug 22, 2007 10:57 PM
That is exactly what it is Intelligence Specialist. Consider this. If your spouse predeceased you and you were NOT drawing your CSRS pension (presumably because you were still working) you could draw your Social Security widows benefit (assuming your wages were below the earnings limit, you were the correct age or had dependent children under the age of 16 in your care.) Its not until you are drawing your CSRS pension that they reduce your Social Security by 2/3's of your Govt Pension. With the same senario, if you worked and paid into Social Security instead, if your spouse predeceased you, and you were drawing your own Social Security, 100% of your own benefit would be offset against your widows benefits. Why should you be allowed to collect BOTH just because you're a government worker? We dont allow anyone else to. Why you?

Re: Pension

Analyst
USDA
Thu Aug 23, 2007 6:39 AM
Intelligence Specialist, DOA: Since you know this, why not take out an insurance policy on your spouse? That way there should be enough. Or you could give up a few things and live on less now. If an illness strikes and one of the two incomes were lost, what would you do?

Social Security & Medicare Bleak Future

Government Employee
DoD
Thu Aug 2, 2007 2:13 PM

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It doesn't elevate the problem to do nothing regarding the grim future of United States Social Security and Medicare Systems. Personally I would agree to both some shared increase in costs, and reduction in benefits: however, I would also force health providers to reduce their costs in regards to Medicare costs. To do nothing now is unacceptable.

don't plan on having SS

engineer
US Forest Service
Thu Aug 2, 2007 2:58 PM

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I and many others of my generation (I'm 28) don't plan on Social Security being there when we get old. It's not fair that we have to pay so much every year when we won't see any benefit. More of us need to get mad and get loud! Also, how come rich CEOs, movie stars, and others qualify for SS? It's supposed to be a safety net for the poor or those who can't work due to disabilities, etc. Good suggestions about people working longer (though I'm getting sick of working with Boomers) and implementing the Fair Tax.

Re: don't plan on having SS

Staff Accountant
dfas
Fri Aug 3, 2007 9:00 AM
I saw an interesting survey. It seems that people in your age group think that they are more likely to see Elvis than they are to see social security.

They could have a good point there.

My retirement

Staff Accountant
dfas
Fri Aug 3, 2007 8:40 AM

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It's our own damn fault. MY generation sat on our hands for years, ignoring warnings about social security, now we're the ones who will get to eat dog food.

Or most of us. I won't. I have my own plans. I'm going to keep riding the stock market bubble for another five years. When the other baby boomers start retiring and drawing their money, the market will start falling. I'm going to beat that by watching the demographics. When I see the bulk of the baby-boomer waive ready to hit I'm going to pull my money out and put in farm land and shotgun ammuntion.

Total Comments: 62
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