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SBD
Admiral
Joined: 19 Aug 2004
Posts: 1022
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 Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 7:12 pm Post subject: How to Fix Social Security!! |
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Got this email that I thought was a great way to fix Social Security!!
2006 Election Issue!!
GET A BILL STARTED TO PLACE ALL POLITICIANS ON SOC. SEC
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SOCIAL SECURITY:
(This is worth reading. It is short and to the point.)
Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election years. !
Our Senators and Congresswomen do not pay into Social Security and, of course, they do not collect from it.
You see, Social Security benefits were not suitable for persons of their rare elevation in society.They felt they should have a special plan for themselves. So, many years ago they voted in their own benefit plan.
In more recent years, no congressperson has felt the need to change it. After all, it is a great plan.
For all practical purposes their plan works like this:
When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die.
Except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments..
For example, Senator Byrd and Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw $7,800,000.00 (that's Seven Million, Eight-Hundred Thousand Dollars), with their wives drawing $275,000.00 during the last years of their lives.
This is calculated on an average life span for each of those two Dignitaries
Younger Dignitaries who retire at an early age, will receive much more during the rest of their lives.
Their cost for this excellent plan is $0.00. NADA....ZILCH....
This little perk they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan. The funds for this fine retirement plan come directly from the General Funds;
"OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK"!
From our own Social Security Plan, which you and I pay (or have paid) into,-every payday until we retire (which amount is matched by our employer)-we can expect to get an average of $1,000 per month after retirement.
Or, in other words, we would have to collect our average of $1,000 monthly benefits for 68 years and one (1) month to equal former Senator Bill Bradley's benefits!
Social Security could be very good if only one small change were made.
That change would be to:
Jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the Senators and Congressmen. Put them into the Social Security plan with the rest of us .....
then sit back.....
and watch how fast they would fix it.
If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe good changes will evolve.
SBD |
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highwayman
Seaman Recruit
Joined: 27 Sep 2004
Posts: 43
Location: oregon
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| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:00 pm Post subject: |
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| i LIKE it!!!! better yet yank those carreer beurocrates out of office and plant them in middle america with the condition that they cannot work for the government, give them $5,000 and within 3 years they need to make the median income for the area... |
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1991932
Lance Corporal
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 381
Location: Massachusetts
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| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:39 am Post subject: |
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Pure BS, SBD.
Check your facts, then spout off.
Hint: Check out FERS, TSP, and yes, even Social Security.
Am I on the once-proud Swift Boats web site?
This is bunk, plain & simple.
_________________
Former "War Criminal" |
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SBD
Admiral
Joined: 19 Aug 2004
Posts: 1022
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 2:22 pm Post subject: |
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| 1991932 wrote: | Pure BS, SBD.
Check your facts, then spout off.
Hint: Check out FERS, TSP, and yes, even Social Security.
Am I on the once-proud Swift Boats web site?
This is bunk, plain & simple. |
If you read the first sentence of my post, it clearly states that this was an email I received. I did not write it and frankly your tone is a little harsh don't you think?.
"Am I on the once-proud Swift Boat web site?"
Are you saying that the Swift Boat website is no longer worthy of being proud because of a post in a section of a forum that was intended for this exact purpose?
The numbers and the wording might be bunk, but the idea of taking away their Perk to get them to fix Social Security is not. The Perk might have been exagerated, but not by much.
Here's my spouting off facts for you!!
Strange End To Strange Election: Inauguration Could Bring More than $13 Million in Tax-Funded Pensions for Clinton, Gore
Payouts Believed to Be Two Largest Lifetime Amounts in Fed. Gov’t History
http://www.ntu.org/main/press.php?PressID=432
by
Peter J. Sepp
Jan 11, 2001
(Alexandria, VA) — As an emotional transfer of power nears its end in one of the most contested U.S. Presidential elections, Americans shouldn’t shed any tears. They’ll be shedding tax dollars for both the loser’s and the outgoing leader’s retirement for a long time to come. Even with a Presidential election loss, Al Gore will still have a princely pension funded largely by taxpayers, retiring this year with a steady income that would start at $94,800, then rise with inflation to bring the lifetime total to $5.96 million. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton stands to collect a whopping $7.29 million in retirement. These are believed to be the two largest potential lifetime pension payouts in federal government history.
The estimates were calculated by the nonpartisan National Taxpayers Union (NTU), a 300,000-member taxpayer group that has a long history of accurate Congressional and Presidential pension calculations.
NTU Senior Counselor and pension expert David Keating observed, "while we don't want our former Presidents or Congressmen to retire in poverty, that's no reason to put them in the lap of luxury. Ironically, federal retirement perks could make multimillionaires out of the same two men who railed against ‘breaks for the wealthy’ when they were in office."
According to federal pension rules, Al Gore’s service as a Representative, Senator, and Vice President (presiding officer of the Senate) would all count towards a Congressional pension, which NTU estimates will begin at $94,800. Assuming he lives to the age predicted by actuarial tables for a male born in his year, Gore could accumulate an inflation-compensated lifetime retirement benefit of $5.13 million. His spouse Tipper could collect an additional $831,900 "spousal annuity," pushing the estimated Gore family total to $5.96 million.
The calculations do not include Gore’s savings, if any, in the tax-deferred Federal Thrift Plan, which is similar to a private-sector 401(k) plan. NTU estimates that he could have had as much as $263,900 in that account as of December 31.
Meanwhile, Bill Clinton will draw a Presidential pension that will start at $161,200 per year, and would add up to $7.29 million over his lifetime, should he live to the age of 82.0 years. All former Presidents receive a pension for life, linked to the current salary of Cabinet Members (which often rises). In addition, the Arkansas Code specifies that as a former 4-term Governor, Bill Clinton would be entitled to receive an annuity equal to 30% of the biennally-adjusted salary level for the Governor. That would work out to slightly more than $18,000. However, unlike the Presidential pension, Bill Clinton would have to wait until his 55th birthday, in August, to begin drawing the benefit. This pension occurs in lieu of any state benefit to which he would otherwise be entitled.
Former Presidents also receive staff, travel, mail, and office expense reimbursements that ranged from $308,000 to $548,000 apiece for FY 1999 alone. Although the General Services Administration oversees these funds, only a few basic restrictions on their use apply. Secret Service protection costs are not reported, but are rumored to run into the high millions.
Although Clinton and Gore could receive the biggest lifetime pensions in federal history (in part due to their relatively young age at retirement), NTU believes that the current yearly pension champion would be Gerald Ford, whose Presidential and Congressional pensions will be worth a combined $267,000 in 2001. Ironically, until the Presidential salary was doubled this year to $400,000, Ford was receiving more money for being retired than Bill Clinton was receiving for being on active duty.
But there are more pension millionaires in the making. A single term for George W. Bush could bring an immediate estimated yearly pension of $184,900, and a lifetime windfall of $6.6 million, if he reaches the actuarial life expectancy for a man of his age.
"Because of the lavish retirement perk, Congress and the White House have opened pension millionaire clubs on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue," Keating concluded. "While the average taxpayer retires with a fixed income, former lawmakers and Presidents can retire with fat payoffs that consume more tax dollars every year."
Congressional pensions are typically two to three times more generous than those in the private sector and even more generous than pensions for most federal workers. Plus, the Congressional benefit is protected from inflation with Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs), a feature that fewer than 1 in 10 private plans offer. Also, Members of Congress enjoy a much lower retirement age with full benefits than private sector employees, Social Security beneficiaries, and most Executive Branch employees.
Congressional retirement benefits are normally calculated by multiplying the years of Member service by 2.5 percent of the average of the three highest years’ salaries. Adjustments are made for other federal service, Members with spouses, or those who retire before age 60.
The Members paid up to eight percent of their salaries into the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), which includes the Congressional retirement system. But this pays for just a small portion of the benefits (about 20 percent), says NTU. Many Members have chosen the CSRS Offset Plan, in which pension contributions and benefits will be offset by Social Security taxes and benefits. If a Member has not chosen the Offset Plan, the estimate would be higher in order to include Social Security payments.
NTU computes the pension benefit estimates based on public records concerning length of federal service, age at the time of retirement, life expectancy based on standard mortality tables used by the life insurance industry, and COLAs estimated at four percent a year, the same estimate used by federal pension actuaries. It is possible, though unlikely, that Al Gore has declined coverage in the Congressional retirement system since participation is voluntary.
NTU is a non-profit, nonpartisan citizen organization founded in 1969 to work for lower taxes, less wasteful spending, and accountable government at all levels. Note: Detailed pension calculation charts for Al Gore, Bill Clinton, and past Presidents are available upon request.
SBD |
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Navy_Navy_Navy
Admin
Joined: 07 May 2004
Posts: 5777
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 11:54 pm Post subject: |
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I don't know what the numbers are for the Congressional retirement plan any more - but I've thought from its inception that it was ludicruously generous.... and it just keeps getting bigger all the time. 
Why?
I very much support the idea of taking away their private pension program and putting them on SS like the rest of us.
The founding fathers did not intend to create a legion of little demi-gods this is supposed to be a government OF and BY the citizenry, not OF and BY a select group of the high and mighty.
_________________
~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother |
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SBD
Admiral
Joined: 19 Aug 2004
Posts: 1022
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| Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 12:15 am Post subject: |
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| Navy_Navy_Navy wrote: | I don't know what the numbers are for the Congressional retirement plan any more - but I've thought from its inception that it was ludicruously generous.... and it just keeps getting bigger all the time.
Why? . |
The reason it keeps growing is because benefits get adjusted every year according to the "Cost of Living" for that year. Unlike the rest of us who have to retire on a fixed monthly amount that never changes, Congress gets an increase every year since the cost of living rarely decreases. That coupled with the ability to collect in some cases at age 50 while the rest of us have to wait to for me anyway, to age 67.
SBD |
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