Originally posted by: bbking
"Republicasn sabotage our safety nets and then they bitch about how those programs aren't paid for."
Amen!! The same dumbasses that think social security and medicare are entitlement programs.
Then what are they?
Originally posted by: bbking
"Republicasn sabotage our safety nets and then they bitch about how those programs aren't paid for."
Amen!! The same dumbasses that think social security and medicare are entitlement programs.
Then what are they?
Social security IS an entitlement that was funded by those who have worked and paid into social security during their working years.
Originally posted by: tom
Democrats had their chance recently to cut spending but they chose to increase it.
scandanavia has huge taxes to pay for their social programs, which are nowhere near as generous as what the democrats are proposing.
They are going to increase taxes in order to handle the increased costs of those programs.
Is pj willing to pay north of 39% income taxes, plus a VAT tax?
Those countries don't have socialist economies which is what you guys want.
Which gets back to my point that socialist economies don't work. Their less than 2% growth rate shows their tax structure hinders their economy.
What data has Tom seen that shows healthcare costs more in Scandanavia than here? Wait - thats a silly question.
And, yes, I'd be thrilled to pay 39% of my income for early retirement, healthcare, secondary education, daycare, and public transportation....because when you add my tax rate to the private sector costs of those things in the US its more than 39% of my income. And for 75% of Americans it is WAYYYYY more.
And as an added bonus - Finland's governing party does not tell its citizens their budegt will be paid for by Denmark. Thats one reason why they dont have crazy deficits like the ones ushered in by Tom's candidates in the US.
Re: "entitlement programs"
"The most important examples of entitlement programs at the federal level in the United States would include Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, most Veterans' Administration programs, federal employee and military retirement plans, unemployment compensation, food stamps, and agricultural price support programs."
Ref: Glosary of Economic Terms - Auburn University
Originally posted by: David Miller
Social security IS an entitlement that was funded by those who have worked and paid into social security during their working years.
Then I guess you consider your 401k an entitlement?? What the hell is the difference?? You pay in,company matches,then you collect when you retire.Just like social security.
Entitlements are not free to the entitled.
Social Security: Mandatory payroll deduction in working years; May be taxed in retirement depending on other income.
Medicare: Mandatory payroll deduction (for Fed employees, maybe others); post-retirement premiums paid monthly.
Veterans Admin: Everyone's taxes pay for VA care.
Federal employee retirement: Mandatory payroll deduction during working years; annuity taxed in retirement.
Military retirement plans (different from Veteran Pensions): Those are optional private insurance plans some Vets sign up for and pay into. Controversial lately as they were/are sold as 'extra' beneficial coverage for survivors of deceased veterans, but have proven to reduce regularly earned Vet pensions. Not fair, IMO, from what I've read about it.
Unemployment compensation: Employers pay To fund this benefit. Recipient income may be taxed, depending.
Food Stamps: Not taxable.
Agricultural price support programs: Don't know.
Social Security started out in the hole; initial recipients had not paid in, but that's ancient history.
Almost everybody pays, somehow, whether we like it or not.
Complicated, anyway.
Originally posted by: David Miller
Social security IS an entitlement that was funded by those who have worked and paid into social security during their working years.
Exactly. It's not an entitlement, it's a repayment.
That's right, I and every one who paid into Social Security is ENTITLED to a repayment. Therefore, it is an entitlement.
Originally posted by: Candy Wright
Entitlements are not free to the entitled.
Social Security: Mandatory payroll deduction in working years; May be taxed in retirement depending on other income.
Medicare: Mandatory payroll deduction (for Fed employees, maybe others); post-retirement premiums paid monthly.
Veterans Admin: Everyone's taxes pay for VA care.
Federal employee retirement: Mandatory payroll deduction during working years; annuity taxed in retirement.
Military retirement plans (different from Veteran Pensions): Those are optional private insurance plans some Vets sign up for and pay into. Controversial lately as they were/are sold as 'extra' beneficial coverage for survivors of deceased veterans, but have proven to reduce regularly earned Vet pensions. Not fair, IMO, from what I've read about it.
Unemployment compensation: Employers pay To fund this benefit. Recipient income may be taxed, depending.
Food Stamps: Not taxable.
Agricultural price support programs: Don't know.
Social Security started out in the hole; initial recipients had not paid in, but that's ancient history.
Almost everybody pays, somehow, whether we like it or not.
Complicated, anyway.
Well, of course. But our conservative Trumptards like to fantasize that they dump megabazillions into the federal hopper and all them no-good freeloaders get all sorts of goodies for nothing. The fact of the matter is that even the "freeloaders" pay and even the noble taxpaying conservatives get benefits. Boilerman in particular loves to say that he has personally paid in 500 squillion $$$ and has never received a penny in benefits--to which I say "bullshit."
The term "entitlement" is misleading at best, anyway. Such programs are social safety nets and what "entitles" you to benefits is meeting some condition (like age) or having something happen (like work-related injuries, or involuntary unemployment).
A better analogy/term would be "social insurance." When you pay for a fire insurance policy, you're "entitled" to compensation when your house burns down. Not because you're being afforded some kind of privilege--because you bought the insurance. For the sake of the analogy, it really doesn't matter whether you were forced to buy the insurance or did so voluntarily.
I reiterate my point that relatively little of the "free shit" that so twists conservative panties is anything other than insurance payments. Even when the funds aren't directly earmarked for a given program.
Call social security benefits what you want - it is still an entitlement to those who paid into it.
