This has nothing to do with Republicans vs Democrats. Both parties have robbed the Social Security fund.
Upper middle class and rich people collect Social Security when they reach 62 or 65 as well, so long as they paid into it. If we up the cut off to $200,000, the payments to these people who pay 6.2% of $200,000 of their income their entire lives will collect more when they retire. Also, rich people tend to have longer life spans, as they are less likely to engage in as many risky activities and because of a large number of other reasons. So they would collect more, longer. Your idea might not be one that saves Social Security, but one that helps bankrupt it.
Now, if we cut payouts to 6.2% of the first $100,000 and still made people pay 6.2% of $200,000, that wouldn't be fair to the employer who has to match it, or the person who is giving $12,400/year away (counting the employers match), when they can put that money in their personal 401k.
The way to fix Social Security is to put it back in its own fund and phase it out entirely over the next 30-40 years.
Make a mandatory personal retirement fund, that can only be invested in top rated securities. 10% of personal income and a 10% employer match of the first $50,000, and a 7.5% match of the next $50,000, and a 1% match of anything greater than $100,000. Something that one can choose to cash out when they're 65, or set up monthly payments. Something that the government has no control over, outside the requirement that it is mandatory. This way everyone has a retirement fund and the government can't get their greedy hands on our money.
Woody: That's what it was originally designed as, but it changed with time. Contributions increased from 1% of the first $3000 of income to 6.2% of the first $106,800.
$3,000.00 in 1935 had the same buying power as $49,069.93 in 2011. So people are paying on 54% more of their income in to Social Security, and at a much higher rate (6.2% vs 1%). When people started living longer, we started to pay more into Social Security. Not to mention the 6.2% match that employers make these days. 12.4% is what is paid in now vs 1% in 1935.
California is the only state that has CNG stations all over the state. I would love to buy a CNG vehicle. They cost about $10,000 more. If they were mass produced, they would cost the same amount as gasoline powered vehicles. It would cost $1/gallon in comparison to gasoline. It would also save us trillions in future war efforts, as we would no longer have any interest in Middle East politics, because we would not need their oil.
Also, what makes them worthy of their salaries? Oh, I don't know... the 8+ years of education and the 3-5 years of post doctoral work they did to get to where they are. The YSU president might make $300k/year, but I can assure you, the average faculty member doesn't even make $80k/year.
As long as NAFTA and other similar trade agreements exist, this area is dead. GM Lordstown will be gone in a 5 years, and this area will take yet another major blow. Anyone not tied down to this area should leave. The weather sucks, the people are bitter, there are higher cancer incidences because of all of the pollution from the mills that still haunts us, the area has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis and ALS in the world. If you are not tied down, move out west or down south.... Jobs are more plentiful, the weather is better, and the sun even comes out more than 39 times per year!
Flacon... My wife pays 25 percent of her healthcare. The teachers are the only ones paying only 5 to 10 percent. I think it would be fair to ask all public employees to pay at least 20 percent of their health care... But that can be negotiated in collective bargaining.
I am related to a state worker. She took a pay freeze, and was not allowed to get a step increase during the 3 year span in which the pay freeze went into effect. She pays 25% of her health care premiums, and has a typical 80/20 plan similar to those found in private industry. The one benefit of her plan is no lifetime max, which became standard last year for Ohio public employees and will be standard in the next couple years nationally, for everyone.
I do agree that some teachers salaries are absurd (when the Gym teacher is the highest paid teacher at Warren Harding, there's something wrong with the pay scale). One would think that Science and Math teachers should be paid more? Their health care premiums need to be normalized to what the private sector pays as well (or even what other public employees pay). These people are not our enemies though. Our government mismanaged our money for years, stole from Social Security, reinstated slavery (by passing unfair trade agreements like NAFTA), and spent an outrageous amount of money putting us deep in debt.... and now they're trying to blame middle class citizens for the mess they created. The sad thing is, most people just eat this crap up.
We need a national controlled substances database. Every prescription written has to be submitted into it. There would be no physical prescription that the patient would bring to the pharmacy, it would be accessed through the database by any pharmacy.
This would keep track of the doctors prescribing habits so the DEA can quickly strip the license of drug pushing MDs who are decaying our society.
Start class-action suit against US
This has nothing to do with Republicans vs Democrats. Both parties have robbed the Social Security fund.
Upper middle class and rich people collect Social Security when they reach 62 or 65 as well, so long as they paid into it. If we up the cut off to $200,000, the payments to these people who pay 6.2% of $200,000 of their income their entire lives will collect more when they retire. Also, rich people tend to have longer life spans, as they are less likely to engage in as many risky activities and because of a large number of other reasons. So they would collect more, longer. Your idea might not be one that saves Social Security, but one that helps bankrupt it.
Now, if we cut payouts to 6.2% of the first $100,000 and still made people pay 6.2% of $200,000, that wouldn't be fair to the employer who has to match it, or the person who is giving $12,400/year away (counting the employers match), when they can put that money in their personal 401k.
The way to fix Social Security is to put it back in its own fund and phase it out entirely over the next 30-40 years.
Make a mandatory personal retirement fund, that can only be invested in top rated securities. 10% of personal income and a 10% employer match of the first $50,000, and a 7.5% match of the next $50,000, and a 1% match of anything greater than $100,000. Something that one can choose to cash out when they're 65, or set up monthly payments. Something that the government has no control over, outside the requirement that it is mandatory. This way everyone has a retirement fund and the government can't get their greedy hands on our money.
July 21, 2011 at 7:53 p.m. permalink suggest removal
S.S. just ain’t what it used to be
Woody: That's what it was originally designed as, but it changed with time. Contributions increased from 1% of the first $3000 of income to 6.2% of the first $106,800.
$3,000.00 in 1935 had the same buying power as $49,069.93 in 2011. So people are paying on 54% more of their income in to Social Security, and at a much higher rate (6.2% vs 1%). When people started living longer, we started to pay more into Social Security. Not to mention the 6.2% match that employers make these days. 12.4% is what is paid in now vs 1% in 1935.
July 19, 2011 at 3:25 p.m. permalink suggest removal
Don’t lease Ohio’s state parks to oil and natural-gas drillers
California is the only state that has CNG stations all over the state. I would love to buy a CNG vehicle. They cost about $10,000 more. If they were mass produced, they would cost the same amount as gasoline powered vehicles. It would cost $1/gallon in comparison to gasoline. It would also save us trillions in future war efforts, as we would no longer have any interest in Middle East politics, because we would not need their oil.
June 28, 2011 at 10:19 a.m. permalink suggest removal
YSU faculty, staff have made many sacrifices in pay, workload
YSU's chemistry department is ranked 24th in the country, tied with Purdue. They are ranked #2 in the country in universities that don't offer a phd.
June 27, 2011 at 6:27 p.m. permalink suggest removal
YSU faculty, staff have made many sacrifices in pay, workload
SAVEOURCOUNTRY is owning you people with facts.
Also, what makes them worthy of their salaries? Oh, I don't know... the 8+ years of education and the 3-5 years of post doctoral work they did to get to where they are. The YSU president might make $300k/year, but I can assure you, the average faculty member doesn't even make $80k/year.
June 22, 2011 at 5:15 p.m. permalink suggest removal
Why we’re losing population
As long as NAFTA and other similar trade agreements exist, this area is dead. GM Lordstown will be gone in a 5 years, and this area will take yet another major blow. Anyone not tied down to this area should leave. The weather sucks, the people are bitter, there are higher cancer incidences because of all of the pollution from the mills that still haunts us, the area has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis and ALS in the world. If you are not tied down, move out west or down south.... Jobs are more plentiful, the weather is better, and the sun even comes out more than 39 times per year!
April 28, 2011 at 1:37 a.m. permalink suggest removal
Government Watch: The public sector needs fixing
Flacon... My wife pays 25 percent of her healthcare. The teachers are the only ones paying only 5 to 10 percent. I think it would be fair to ask all public employees to pay at least 20 percent of their health care... But that can be negotiated in collective bargaining.
April 28, 2011 at 1:22 a.m. permalink suggest removal
Spoiled public employees raise ire
I am related to a state worker. She took a pay freeze, and was not allowed to get a step increase during the 3 year span in which the pay freeze went into effect. She pays 25% of her health care premiums, and has a typical 80/20 plan similar to those found in private industry. The one benefit of her plan is no lifetime max, which became standard last year for Ohio public employees and will be standard in the next couple years nationally, for everyone.
I do agree that some teachers salaries are absurd (when the Gym teacher is the highest paid teacher at Warren Harding, there's something wrong with the pay scale). One would think that Science and Math teachers should be paid more? Their health care premiums need to be normalized to what the private sector pays as well (or even what other public employees pay). These people are not our enemies though. Our government mismanaged our money for years, stole from Social Security, reinstated slavery (by passing unfair trade agreements like NAFTA), and spent an outrageous amount of money putting us deep in debt.... and now they're trying to blame middle class citizens for the mess they created. The sad thing is, most people just eat this crap up.
April 25, 2011 at 11:27 p.m. permalink suggest removal
Pharmacist charged with drug offenses gets probation
We need a national controlled substances database. Every prescription written has to be submitted into it. There would be no physical prescription that the patient would bring to the pharmacy, it would be accessed through the database by any pharmacy.
This would keep track of the doctors prescribing habits so the DEA can quickly strip the license of drug pushing MDs who are decaying our society.
April 25, 2011 at 10:58 p.m. permalink suggest removal