Where Did It Go? http://www.factcheck.org/2011/07/fiscal-factcheck/ You forgot some of our debt Box 61% for SS, Medicare, Medicaid, and defense Major components of the $3.5 trillion spent in fiscal 2010 Social Security 20.4% National Defense 20.1% Medicare 13.1% Medicaid/CHIP 8.1%Interest 5.7% Low-Income Assistance 5.3% Unemployment Compensation 4.6% Education & Training 3.7% Federal Employee Retirement 3.5% Veterans 3.1% Transportation 2.7% Other health care 2.6% Parks & natural resources 1.3% Space/Science 0.9% Foreign aid 0.9% Agriculture 0.6% Everything else 3.5%
Democrat Congressman: Gov't Has No Contractual Obligation to Pay Social Security Benefits By Matt Cover September 14, 2011 Subscribe to Matt Cover's posts
Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.)
(CNSNews.com) – Democrat Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) said that most Americans do not understand that federal entitlements are not “bank account” programs that hold their money, adding that Social Security is not even a legal guarantee.
“Are these vested benefits? Are these contractual benefits?" Cooper asked of Social Security benefits. "Well, it turns out they’re not. Legally, they’re not even promises. They’re scheduled benefits and most Americans are not even aware of that.”
Cooper, asked about potential reforms to Medicare and Medicaid, said that the core problem was that the public does not understand the true nature of entitlements.
“Many Americans don’t really realize that Medicare is a government program,” Cooper said at a press conference with fellow Blue Dogs on Wednesday. “We have to start first with diagnosing the problem, helping all Americans understand the true nature of the programs.”
“Many people think that Social Security and Medicare are bank account programs, and money that they’ve paid in is stored up in their name just for them,” he said. “That is a widespread misconception.”
Cooper said that Congress could do itself a favors by explaining to Americans that the payroll taxes deducted from their paychecks go into the government’s coffers and are used to pay benefits for current retirees and are not saved for their retirement.
“There’s a lot we could do to help people understand that the payroll taxes they pay in this month are paid out next month to somebody they’ve never met, a complete stranger,” he explained.
Cooper also said that Congress should be explaining that it does not account for entitlement spending in the normal way, but puts it off on what he called a “government credit card,” rather than accounting for it through the normal budgeting process.
“There’s another huge set of issues having to do with government accounting,” Cooper said. “We put most of these precious, vital programs on the government credit card, as opposed to treating them in the regular budget process.”
Cooper is referring to a process known as off-budget accounting whereby Congress accounts for the Social Security and Medicare trust funds separately from its regular revenue and spending calculations. This process separates entitlement spending from the regular yearly budget, often making it difficult to gauge how much money the government actually spends in a given year.
Retired beer truck driver Frank Ferrira, 90, talks about social security on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009 at a senior center in Pembroke Pines, Fla. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)
Many critics have argued that bringing entitlements back into the regular budgeting process is a more honest way to account for them because it would allow the public to see the entirety of federal spending and taxation every year.
Cooper noted one final misconception that Congress should correct--that most people believe that Social Security benefits are legal obligations of the federal government. In fact, he noted, they are nothing of the sort. Instead they are merely “scheduled benefits” that can be altered at any time.
“A further issue has to do with the legal treatment of these programs,” Cooper said. “Are these vested benefits? Are these contractual benefits? Well, it turns out they’re not. Legally, they’re not even promises.Tthey’re scheduled benefits and most Americans are not even aware of that.”
Cooper said Congress has “a lot of work to do” to educate the public about the true nature of entitlement programs.
“So we have a lot of work to do here as a Congress to start getting people’s heads in the game and understand the true nature of the dilemma,” he said.
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
The National Debt Awareness Center often receives opposing views about whether this large debt is bad, or about its impact on our economy. The following opposing view is submitted by Mr. Rodger Mitchel. A link to his web site is posted below. If you have a contribution to make about the National Debt, email it to the Director.
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According to Mr. Mitchel, the facts are:
1) Annual percentage increases in Total (federal and private) Debt parallel annual percentage increases in GDP. In short, the more debt, the healthier the economy. The reason: Debt = money. Not many people understand this. 2) The government has the unlimited ability to produce money. Therefore, the government does not need tax money. Taxes destroy money, which means all taxes have a negative affect on all of us. 3) Contrary to common knowledge, "turning on the money printing presses" never has caused inflation. But it always has caused economic growth. 4) FICA could be eliminated and Social Security benefits could double, and still Social Security would not go bankrupt. Same for Medicare. They are federal agencies, and no federal agency can go bankrupt. (But imagine the tremendous boost our economy would receive by eliminating FICA ). 5) High interest rates do not "cool" the economy, nor do low rates stimulate. To a small degree, the reverse is true, because high rates force the government to pump more money into the economy. 6) Federal debt is an economic asset. The economy is the creditor, and for a creditor, debt is an asset. The federal deficit is an economic surplus. This means the economy receives more money from the government than it sends to the government -- a surplus. So why do your readers prefer an economic deficit (federal surplus)? 7) A growing economy requires a growing supply of money. Economic growth is impossible without growth in Total Debt (money). So here's the question, I will bet not a single one of your readers will "remember" to answer: Where will the money come from to grow our economy?
Add It Up: Taxes Avoided by the Rich Could Pay Off the Deficit.
1. Individual and small business tax avoidance costs us $450 billion. 2. Corporate tax avoidance is between $250 billion and $500 billion. 3. Tax haven losses range from $337 billion to $500 billion. 4. That's enough to pay off a trillion dollar deficit. Reasonable tax changes could pay it off a second time: (a) A non-regressive payroll tax could produce $150 billion in revenue. (b) A minimal estate tax brings in another $100 billion. (c) A financial transaction tax (FTT): up to $500 billion. Conservatives force the deficit issue, ignoring job creation, and insisting that tax increases on the rich wouldn't generate enough revenue to balance the budget. They're way off. But it takes a little arithmetic to put it all together. In the following analysis, data has been taken from a variety of sources, some of which may overlap or slightly disagree, but all of which lead to the conclusion that withheld revenue, not excessive spending, is the problem.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
That guy never took an economics course in his life and never managed a household budget. Printing money decreases it's value as we have no backing like we had when we were on a gold standard. According to this guy debt equals money then I should be rich.
Good - I'm glad to see he cares about security, rather than apologizing for defending ourselves.
Not matter what spin Obama puts on it, the Muslim Brotherhood and Russia are NOT our friends.
Obama is a corrupt Chicago hack. He hasn't got one accomplishment. More people on assistance, unemployment and gas pump prices double from 2009. This incompetent is going to lose and NYS is a joke that supports him more than even his own Illinois. One of his 59 States. But they know him better.
Add It Up: Taxes Avoided by the Rich Could Pay Off the Deficit.
1. Individual and small business tax avoidance costs us $450 billion. 2. Corporate tax avoidance is between $250 billion and $500 billion. 3. Tax haven losses range from $337 billion to $500 billion. 4. That's enough to pay off a trillion dollar deficit. Reasonable tax changes could pay it off a second time: (a) A non-regressive payroll tax could produce $150 billion in revenue. (b) A minimal estate tax brings in another $100 billion. (c) A financial transaction tax (FTT): up to $500 billion. Conservatives force the deficit issue, ignoring job creation, and insisting that tax increases on the rich wouldn't generate enough revenue to balance the budget. They're way off. But it takes a little arithmetic to put it all together. In the following analysis, data has been taken from a variety of sources, some of which may overlap or slightly disagree, but all of which lead to the conclusion that withheld revenue, not excessive spending, is the problem.
Just like you dismiss anything from Newsmax and Fox, I dismiss this as nothing but a liberal pipe-dream coming from a liberal web site.
The deficit commission studied this a lot longer than this site did, and came up with a report that no politician from either side seems to like, because it's bitter medicine.
"Arguing with liberals is like playing chess with a pigeon; no matter how good I am at chess, the pigeon is just going to knock out the pieces, crap on the board, and strut around like it is victorious." - Author Unknown
Logged
Obama is a corrupt Chicago hack. He hasn't got one accomplishment. More people on assistance, unemployment and gas pump prices double from 2009. This incompetent is going to lose and NYS is a joke that supports him more than even his own Illinois. One of his 59 States. But they know him better. 
