Perry calls Social Security 'monstrous lie'

[peejay 327]

Perry calls Social Security 'monstrous lie'

By PEGGY FIKAC, AUSTIN BUREAU

Updated 12:42 a.m., Sunday, August 28, 2011

OTTUMWA, Iowa - Riding high in the polls, Gov. Rick Perry rode into Iowa on Saturday with tough talk on President Obama, the economy and foreign policy and a declaration that Social Security is not only a Ponzi scheme but a "monstrous lie" for younger people.

"If you're for the status quo in America, I'm not your guy," Perry told an overflow crowd eager to see the presidential candidate at The Vine Coffeehouse, where people repeatedly sang God Bless America - once to try to encourage Perry to come in from shaking hands with people outside.

Asked by a woman in the crowd about Social Security being viewed as an entitlement program, Perry reiterated the suggestion in his anti-Washington book, Fed Up!, that the program amounts to a Ponzi scheme.

"It is a Ponzi scheme for these young people. The idea that they're working and paying into Social Security today, that the current program is going to be there for them, is a lie," Perry said. "It is a monstrous lie on this generation, and we can't do that to them."

Later, in Des Moines, when a reporter asked about the suggestion that his campaign was backing off some positions in the staunch states-rights book, Perry said, "I haven't backed off anything in my book. So read the book again and get it right."

National conversation

He told the Ottumwa crowd that for people who are drawing Social Security or near eligibility "like me," he wasn't proposing a change in the program. But he said there should be a national conversation about potential changes for others, including raising the age of eligibility and establishing a threshold based on a person's means.

"Does Warren Buffett need to get Social Security? Maybe not," he said.

Presenting himself as the candidate who can put Americans back to work, Perry listed jobs lost in Iowa "since President Obama took over as president" and said one in eight Iowans is on food stamps.

"To be fair, President Obama inherited a bad economy, but he sure made it worse," contended Perry, who offered general suggestions for improvement such as limiting and simplifying taxes and the need to "quit spending money we don't have."

On foreign policy, Perry when asked about Israel cited a statement by Obama that Israel-Palestine borders should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps - a position Perry called "throwing Israel under the bus."

"I'm going to stand with Israel," he said.

Asked whether he'd consider preemptive strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, Perry said there are "a lot of different ways to deal with Iran," including diplomatically and financially, But he added, "I'm never going to take off the table our ability to have a military solution to a country like Iran."

Switched parties

Perry also was asked to explain his past support for Al Gore, in 1988 when Perry was a Democratic state House member.

"I never met a Republican 'til I was 25," said Perry, describing Texas' political past and his own, saying he "made both political parties happy" when he became a Republican in 1989.

In Des Moines, Perry also struck at Obama during a brief news conference. Asked whether he supported the potential Social Security eligibility changes he cited, Perry repeated his support for a "national conversation about how we can save the Social Security program that people expect to have as a retirement program.

"Anybody that is for the status quo ... I'll let the president speak for himself. If he wasn't for the status quo, we'd already be having this conversation."

He also called Obama "an absolute disaster as a president from the standpoint of our economy."

Perry's visit - which also included a meeting with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and corn growers - highlighted Perry's emphasis on Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus vote on the presidential race.

Atop the polls

Erstwhile frontrunner Mitt Romney has largely passed over Iowa in his emphasis on New Hampshire. Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's win in the straw poll here was overshadowed by Perry's simultaneous jump into the race.

Perry has taken a lead in the polls, has a packed fund-raising schedule looming, plans visits to the other early-voting states over the long Labor Day weekend and soon after will face his first debate with other GOP candidates.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who came in second in the straw poll, took a bit of a dig at Perry's jobs message without naming him at a stop in Winterset.

"Presidents can't create jobs. Government can't create jobs. All they can do is create bureaucrats that interfere with your ability to create jobs," Paul said to applause from a crowd at the Northside Cafe. He also spoke at the Des Moines event before Perry.

Perry also has said that government doesn't create jobs, but at the same time, he's touting Texas' job numbers under his leadership as key proof that he has what it takes to put America back to work.

He said in Ottumwa that the country needs "someone who understands how to get America working again. And I'm it!"

http://www.chron.com/news/politics/article/Perry-calls-Social-Security-monstrous-lie-2144460.php

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Social security wasn't designed to be a ponzi scheme or a lie. If only the trust fund hadn't been borrowed from time and again....

[Danno 1,228]

Social security wasn't designed to be a ponzi scheme or a lie. If only the trust fund hadn't been borrowed from time and again....

From the very first recipient till today the people who collect more than they pay in outnumber the few who don't by a long shot.

If it's not a ponzi scheme... it's darn close.

The first reported Social Security payment was to Ernest Ackerman, who retired only one day after Social Security began. Five cents were withheld from his pay during that period, and he received a lump-sum payout of seventeen cents from Social Security.[25]

The first monthly payment was issued on January 31, 1940 to Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont. In 1937, 1938 and 1939 she paid a total of $24.75 into the Social Security System. Her first check was for $22.54. After her second check, Fuller already had received more than she contributed over the three-year period. She lived to be 100 and collected a total of $22,888.92.[26]

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

From the very first recipient till today the people who collect more than they pay in outnumber the few who don't by a long shot.

If it's not a ponzi scheme... it's darn close.

The first reported Social Security payment was to Ernest Ackerman, who retired only one day after Social Security began. Five cents were withheld from his pay during that period, and he received a lump-sum payout of seventeen cents from Social Security.[25]

The first monthly payment was issued on January 31, 1940 to Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont. In 1937, 1938 and 1939 she paid a total of $24.75 into the Social Security System. Her first check was for $22.54. After her second check, Fuller already had received more than she contributed over the three-year period. She lived to be 100 and collected a total of $22,888.92.[26]

I wonder if its because they were at the very beginning of the system?

A recent study says otherwise (though notes that medicare does have an issue where ppl get more out than they pay in)

"The same hypothetical couple retiring in 2011 will have paid $614,000 in Social Security taxes, and can expect to collect $555,000 in benefits. They will have paid about 10 percent more into the system than they are likely to get back."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/02/AR2011010203213.html

Now logically you should be getting more out than you put in when you consider inflation and mortality rates.

[mawilson 2,133]

Social security wasn't designed to be a ponzi scheme or a lie. If only the trust fund hadn't been borrowed from time and again....

Should have invested the trust fund in China instead of Treasuries... we'd be sitting on a 1000 percent return by now.

[Danno 1,228]

I wonder if its because they were at the very beginning of the system?

A recent study says otherwise (though notes that medicare does have an issue where ppl get more out than they pay in)

"The same hypothetical couple retiring in 2011 will have paid $614,000 in Social Security taxes, and can expect to collect $555,000 in benefits. They will have paid about 10 percent more into the system than they are likely to get back."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/02/AR2011010203213.html

Now logically you should be getting more out than you put in when you consider inflation and mortality rates.

I suspect one of the reasons the doomed to go broke is because of the huge growing segment of recipients who are not even retirees.

I know of several people who have started collecting in their 20's and thirties. I have also read that kids with ADD and similar can collect in some cases (if anyone is familiar with this please post).

With people living longer and longer it seems doubtful the average person has paid in more than he has collected.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I suspect one of the reasons the doomed to go broke is because of the huge growing segment of recipients who are not even retirees.

I know of several people who have started collecting in their 20's and thirties. I have also read that kids with ADD and similar can collect in some cases (if anyone is familiar with this please post).

With people living longer and longer it seems doubtful the average person has paid in more than he has collected.

Well with medicare, I assume its the seriously high inflation rate of medical services in the nation.

[scandal 951]

On foreign policy, Perry when asked about Israel cited a statement by Obama that Israel-Palestine borders should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps - a position Perry called "throwing Israel under the bus."

"I'm going to stand with Israel," he said.

I stand fully with Israel too. I want secure defensible borders for Israel which is precisely what Obama's speech advocated. I'm 100% in favor of the Green Line as the basis for such borders, with land swaps to account for larger towns like Maale Adumim, Efrat and Ariel. Where else would you put the borders? In outer Mongolia? Anyone against 67 lines + land swaps and who won't tell you where they want the borders isn't being sincere.

To Perry's credit, he just doesn't know any better. He is just saying what AIPAC wants to hear. There are alternatives to AIPAC, JStreetin particular.

[mawilson 2,133]

I stand fully with Israel too. I want secure defensible borders for Israel which is precisely what Obama's speech advocated.

Sofiyya likes Obama's Israel policy. Nuff said.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Sofiyya likes Obama's Israel policy. Nuff said.

I thought Sofiyya wants Israel dismantled entirely, which is not what Obama has stated.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

I suspect one of the reasons the doomed to go broke is because of the huge growing segment of recipients who are not even retirees.

I know of several people who have started collecting in their 20's and thirties. I have also read that kids with ADD and similar can collect in some cases (if anyone is familiar with this please post).

With people living longer and longer it seems doubtful the average person has paid in more than he has collected.

My housemate collects $800 from Social Security every month and he doesn't even know why!

What baffles me is no investigation has been carried out as to why he is still eligible to receive benefits. And, as it provides him with about as much money as he could expect to earn on minimum wage, he has seen no reason to get a job.

[Danno 1,228]

My housemate collects $800 from Social Security every month and he doesn't even know why!

What baffles me is no investigation has been carried out as to why he is still eligible to receive benefits. And, as it provides him with about as much money as he could expect to earn on minimum wage, he has seen no reason to get a job.

As I have often said, when the GOV is handing out cash, you can't blame the folks taking it... blame the ones who support such programs.

On the other hand, often times the "taker" of money is himself harmed in the long run as it stymies his motivation to get a job and the skill which, in time will net him self respect and a much higher paying job.

(assuming your housemate is reasonably young).

[Alex & Rachel 78]

As I have often said, when the GOV is handing out cash, you can't blame the folks taking it... blame the ones who support such programs.

On the other hand, often times the "taker" of money is himself harmed in the long run as it stymies his motivation to get a job and the skill which, in time will net him self respect and a much higher paying job.

(assuming your housemate is reasonably young).

I've tried to explain this to him (I completely agree) but so far he's been content with how far his money has taken him. Fortunately for him, over the years (he's 25) he's had a number of friends who've been happy to assist him in myriad ways. I can't help that feel that one day he'll be in trouble, however.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

He should really check. If there is an error, the government will expect the money back and there may be fines.

Edited August 29, 2011 by Sousuke