Right to Privacy

[FallbrookFarmer]

Mikepa, You do know that folks on Medicare are not getting a free ride at all. They have paid into it for their whole working life and when they reach 65 they have no choice, they are on Medicare and for a man and his wife they pay $800.00 + per month plus their co-pay + their deductible and their co-pay on any of their medications. No the real problem is folks on Social Security that should not be there and the same with Medicare...that is the problem.. I can see where younger folks buy into the propoganda but remember, if you are lucky enough, you will live to be 65 yrs. old and then you will have no choice but to go on medicare and should be mindful of the rules you tolerate now since they will apply to you later, agian if you live that long..

I agree that Social Security has problems when multi-millionaires are receiving benefits.
But why not look at the base of the problem.
It is NOT sustainable. We now have young workers, paying the benefits to retirees. That was not what was sold to people when the scheme was set up.
I know it's going to be painful, but the day of reckoning has to come, better to do it sooner rather than later.

 

[brin]

I agree that Social Security has problems when multi-millionaires are receiving benefits.
But why not look at the base of the problem.
It is NOT sustainable. We now have young workers, paying the benefits to retirees. That was not what was sold to people when the scheme was set up.
I know it's going to be painful, but the day of reckoning has to come, better to do it sooner rather than later.

Here's the thing...Social Security was originally designed for old folks as subsistence in old age after years of working, however if you do some research you will see the politicians have removed all the money from the SS trust fund for other pet projects and over the years have added all sorts of folks including immigrants to the Social Security roles..Before cutting any benefits to those older folks who worked and paid for their benefit they sure better kick anyone under 66 yrs. old off the roles..

 

[dave1949]

I told my Doctor that if ever there was a test or procedure that the insurance company or eventually medicare did not approve to let me or my wife know so we could pay for it with our own money and the Doc just gave me the deer in the headlight look...she knew exactly what I meant but dared to say nothing..I firmly believe there is already rationing in place and it will only get worse. I don't know how old you are Dave but we will see how thoughtful you want folks to be when Medicare is your only choice and no one will take your cash because it would not be fair for you to get treatment a poor person could not afford...Think about it..

Bob,
I'm 60 years old and realize I am healthier now than I ever will be in the future. I hope I am thoughtful. The way I see the figures, it will be a financial impossibility to continue the current medicare cost trends as the boomers go through it over the next 20 years, unless medicare payroll taxes are raised significantly. I don't really see that as an option. To me, that means finding the way through that harms the fewest people under some set of guidelines and cost savings.

We need to make medicare as efficient as possible. Hard as it sounds, we also need to realize when our own time comes, that we are being selfish if we think we need to spend the last weeks of our lives in an intensive care unit being kept somewhat alive very artificially. I don't mean to offend, but that is my personal opinion.
Dave.

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

Here's the thing...Social Security was originally designed for old folks as subsistence in old age after years of working, however if you do some research you will see the politicians have removed all the money from the SS trust fund for other pet projects and over the years have added all sorts of folks including immigrants to the Social Security roles..Before cutting any benefits to those older folks who worked and paid for their benefit they sure better kick anyone under 66 yrs. old off the roles..

I agree, but find me the politician who is going to the AARP meeting and inform them, Sorry, no more bennies
The last one who even tried anything close, was Danny Rostenkowski, and he almost got a ride out of town on a rail

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

Bob,
I'm 60 years old and realize I am healthier now than I ever will be in the future. I hope I am thoughtful. The way I see the figures, it will be a financial impossibility to continue the current medicare cost trends as the boomers go through it over the next 20 years, unless medicare payroll taxes are raised significantly. I don't really see that as an option. To me, that means finding the way through that harms the fewest people under some set of guidelines and cost savings.

We need to make medicare as efficient as possible. Hard as it sounds, we also need to realize when our own time comes, that we are being selfish if we think we need to spend the last weeks of our lives in an intensive care unit being kept somewhat alive very artificially. I don't mean to offend, but that is my personal opinion.
Dave.

I KNEW you were just a young whippersnapper

 

[brin]

Dave...I am 65 and I agree with you except are you willing to trust a government beaurocrat to decide when your last 2 weeks are ? Next, wouldn't you like to be able to spend your own money to keep yourself alive if you and your family decided that you had longer to live than the government said you did ? See the problem ? It is trust and freedom isn't it...and where are they under this new health care reform ? This bill was signed without anyone reading it...be careful until all the facts come out.
__________

Fallbrook...I agree it will take a committted politician with his facts to show the huge amount of Social Security payments going to folks that were never intended to get it...and it well may be too late for that to happen ..we just may be too far gone !!

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

Dave...I am 65 and I agree with you except are you willing to trust a government beaurocrat to decide when your last 2 weeks are ? Next, wouldn't you like to be able to spend your own money to keep yourself alive if you and your family decided that you had longer to live than the government said you did ? See the problem ? It is trust and freedom isn't it...and where are they under this new health care reform ? This bill was signed without anyone reading it...be careful until all the facts come out.
__________

Fallbrook...I agree it will take a committted politician with his facts to show the huge amount of Social Security payments going to folks that were never intended to get it...and it well may be too late for that to happen ..we just may be too far gone !!

I think that your comment that it will take a "committed"
politician to show folks-----" would evoke the concept
that a politician might have to be released from "commitment" in a mental health facility to run on that platform

 

[Chuck52]

Lucky,Yes ,I was lucky enough to serve my country, so I guess if you want to see that a "free" benefit, that's your choice.

I re-read my post and don't see "free" in it. Maybe you should check your vision benefits? I fully expect to pay for any health care I receive....I always have. We're arguing about the mechanism.

Chuck

 

[brin]

Bob,
I'm 60 years old and realize I am healthier now than I ever will be in the future. I hope I am thoughtful. The way I see the figures, it will be a financial impossibility to continue the current medicare cost trends as the boomers go through it over the next 20 years, unless medicare payroll taxes are raised significantly. I don't really see that as an option. To me, that means finding the way through that harms the fewest people under some set of guidelines and cost savings.

We need to make medicare as efficient as possible. Hard as it sounds, we also need to realize when our own time comes, that we are being selfish if we think we need to spend the last weeks of our lives in an intensive care unit being kept somewhat alive very artificially. I don't mean to offend, but that is my personal opinion.
Dave.

I agree, but find me the politician who is going to the AARP meeting and inform them, Sorry, no more bennies
The last one who even tried anything close, was Danny Rostenkowski, and he almost got a ride out of town on a rail

I think that your comment that it will take a "committed"
politician to show folks-----" would evoke the concept
that a politician might have to be released from "commitment" in a mental health facility to run on that platform

Fallbrook -- I am afraid you are exactly right...We will just have to see how involved the American citizens will get...what they will tolerate and what they won't and that will be it I suppose.

 

[dmccarty]

Yes, the current generations paid into Social Security and Medicare their entire lives. The problem is that that are getting more out of the programs that what they paid in and that there are not enough people, young people, at the bottom paying into the system to support the people taking out of the system. The younger generations are paying for the oldest.

This is called a Ponsi scheme. A Pyramid. A new name would be a Madoff. A small group of people at the top are getting money from a larger group at the bottom. That is bad. What is worse is that the group at the top collecting the money is getting larger while the group at the bottom giving the money is shrinking.

And the richest segment of the population is the elderly who get the most government benefits.

The other problem is that the younger generation is paying far more into the system than they will ever receive. My generation and the generations before mine will never ever get what we paid into the system. It is not possible.

The developed European countries along with Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea have huge money problems down the road. Ok. Some of them are already hitting potholes. They and we have quickly aging populations that will consume more public money. With the exception of the US these same countries have a declining population. Which means they will not have the tax base to pay for the promises made to the generations who have paid into the system. Japan already has a debt ratio of two times their GDP.

The US is just barely maintaining its population. If illegal immigration is counted we have a growing population. This only helps us so much given that such a large portion of the US population will soon be dependent on taking money from one group to give to another.

The system is broke.

People can pretend the system is fine but it is not.

Benefits will have to be cut and certainly taxes raised as a bandaid but the system will have to be changed. Its only a question of when and how much it will cost.

How much I make and how much I am worth is known by the government which is a violation of privacy.

I just had a phone call from a real estate broker asking if we would like to sell some of your land. How did he get my phone number and know I owned land? Well the phone number he got off the Internet which is fine since I published it. But he knows that I own the land via the public documents the county keeps to tax me.

People have been loosing privacy for centuries but it has increase dramatically in the last 100 years and especially this century. It seems like people are like the frog in the pot of water on the stove. The water is getting hotter but the frog does not notice. Privacy is slowly being lost. Some by government edict. Some by business. And more by individuals. People tweet about what they are doing, their location, their friends, etc. I see people on public forums announcing when they will be on vacation.

The simple act of posting on TBN tells us much of the poster. But not forced by edict.

At least so far.

Wait. What is that I hear? It is a tractor! No. OMG it is a bunch of tractors! And they are all black! They are circling the house!

Gotta go! Gotta hide!

Later, maybe,
Dan