Lotteries are illegal unless the government runs them, and so are pyramid schemes like Social security.
For most people, the government extracts over 15% of their pay for FICA. Technically, half comes from the employee and half from the employer, but of course the employer could give it to the employee since it is already part of their total payroll costs.
So if Social Security were privatized you could invest a full 10% of your pay in a personal account and the government would still have over 5% of your pay for general welfare. But that isn’t enough for them! Most people pay more in FICA than they do in Federal Taxes (again, when including the employer portion).
If business leaders published financial statements the way the government does with respect to FICA receipts they would be put in jail. Enron pales by comparison.
Remember, Social Security programs may be good public policy if administered properly, but they don’t qualify as individual compassion. That is a foundational mistake of liberalism: Taking other people’s money at the barrel of a gun and considering it compassion on your part.
And I’m not being dramatic. What do you think happens if people don’t pay taxes? Does the government just try to reason with them? No, they take away your property and/or your freedom, and they will point a gun at you and take you “hostage” if they have to. I always wonder how pacifists ignore this when they are demanding government taxation and controls.
Real compassion is donating money out your wallet.
Am I saying that we should let old people die in the streets? Of course not. But there is a much better way than continuing the lies and the pyramid scheme that is destined to fail.
Why is it that liberal politicians are pro-choice when the “choice” is to crush and dismember an innocent human being, but anti-choice when it is (allegedly) your retirement money, the school your kids attend, etc.?
Eternity Matters 
If you are really passionate about changing the tax structure of this nation there is one thing you can do. End the ability of the government to withhold funds. Force taxpayers to write a check to the government each year to cover their tax bill. That would change a lot right there.
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^ Good idea.
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The problem with privatization is that if Granny invests her Social Security in say – Enron and it tanks, the voters aren’t going to be willing to say,”Granny, you blew it. Go starve in peace and leave us alone”. To work privatization would require that a certain percentage must be invested in guaranteed return vehicles.
You are right about one point though. I wish I could find this article that I remember reading about 20 years ago. It was written by a corporate CEO who was taking other conservatives to task for opposing a minimum wage hike. He recalled in the article how he had worked his way up from minimum wage worker in 1945 to the head of the company. His point was that in 1945 he could raise his family on minimum wage, but a worker today could not, mainly because the FICA taxes had made the modern worker ‘s take home pay a lot less than it was in 1945. He said that to have the same take home purchasing power today as he had in 1945, the minimum wage should be $9.00 an hour and that was in about 1985.
Also, I have heard that if all income, not just the first $90,000. or therabouts was subject to FICA, the overall FICA rate could be cut in half. That’s right, Bill Gates pays FICA taxes on the first $90,000 he makes. The rest is tax free.
Totaltransformation, that’s how they used to do it up until about WWII I think. But what are you going to do if people can’t write that check? Lock ’em up?
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Ivan: So let me get this straight… you actually think Social Security is guaranteed? Sorry, but its not. I’m paying for someone else’s security… not mine. In fact, it’s just a big slush fund for politicians to spend on their favorite baubles since it goes into the general fund and is not protected from greedy thieves.
My only real chance at retirement right now is my 401K fund, and I would happily put 100% of my FICA into my 401K if I had the option… its a lot better than trusting anything to the Government. Sad thing about our country… our Founding Fathers understood this concept perfectly. How far we have fallen…
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“The problem with privatization is that if Granny invests her Social Security in say – Enron and it tanks, the voters aren’t going to be willing to say,”Granny, you blew it. Go starve in peace and leave us alone”. To work privatization would require that a certain percentage must be invested in guaranteed return vehicles.”
I see your point, but do you really trust politicians with our money? They have shown they can’t be trusted, as there is little money, mostly I.O.U.s. Plus, I still think we can have programs for those who have little or no money for retirement, yet still give people the ability to invest how they want.
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Interesting response Ivan, I like it….
“Totaltransformation, that’s how they used to do it up until about WWII I think. But what are you going to do if people can’t write that check? Lock ‘em up?”
One year of reinstating this system and the tax structure and system in this change would change dramatically. As to what to do with those who can’t pay, what do they do currently? Jail? Fine? Imagine the public outrage when the number of people pursued by the I.R.S. increases ten fold within a year.
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People that know me may actually be surprised by this, but I actually like the system. Sure it needs improving, but I think the idea it sets is a good one. First, it’s not really social security, it’s another tax. Pure and simple. The program pays some retirement for workers who have paid into it. The program also pays children who have lost a parent. Both of these are good uses.
Each of us should plan for his/her own family and retirement. However, not everyone will. Social security provides for some assistance to those who don’t.
One of the problems, though is that Social Security was never intended to provide anything but minimal lifestyle. Over time, it has gotten to the point where people expect more. When the government found out they could bribe us with our own money, all was lost.
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I remember when Kansas City (my adopted hometown )brought a dog racing track in. The idea was the tax revenue generated by losing gamblers would make it possible to better the roads and schools, specifically.
What happened? The roads and schools got worse. And I never saw any accounting for what they actually did with the money.
.And then Kansas City decided to bring in riverboat casinos. Same reasoning in play. Better roads and schools. What happened?
The roads and schools got worse. Still no official accounting for where the monies went.
Oh, there was one change I noticed:
I watched a woman bring her husband’s shotguns into a pawn shop to hock. The clerk asked her, “Hubby been to the boats again?” Apparently this was a common trip for her. She had to hock his possessions to pay the rent.
Oh yeah, gambling is real good for the community. NOT!
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it is true that those paying into the SS system are paying for those getting SS checks now. this is why it will be obsolete in years to come and most working today may never see a dime of the money taken from them for this so called security. it is a tax, just like inspections stickers, car registrations, building permit fees, property tax, federal tax, Medicare tax, and on and on.
totaltransformation said that everyone should pay taxes after they get them and this would change many ideas about it. i agree with this. i became very active in property tax protests when i began paying that tax each December instead of having it taken out of my mortgage payment each month. it does change your mindset.
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