Paul Krugman: Expanding Social Security
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/22/opinion/krugman-expanding-social-security.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=1&
For many years there has been one overwhelming rule for people who wanted to be considered serious inside the Beltway. It was this: You must declare your willingness to cut Social Security in the name of “entitlement reform.” It wasn’t really about the numbers, which never supported the notion that Social Security faced an acute crisis. It was instead a sort of declaration of identity, a way to show that you were an establishment guy, willing to impose pain (on other people, as usual) in the name of fiscal responsibility.
But a funny thing has happened in the past year or so. Suddenly, we’re hearing open discussion of the idea that Social Security should be expanded, not cut. Talk of Social Security expansion has even reached the Senate, with Tom Harkin introducing legislation that would increase benefits. A few days ago Senator Elizabeth Warren gave a stirring floor speech making the case for expanded benefits.
Where is this coming from? One answer is that the fiscal scolds driving the cut-Social-Security orthodoxy have, deservedly, lost a lot of credibility over the past few years. (Giving the ludicrous Paul Ryan an award for fiscal responsibility? And where’s my debt crisis?) Beyond that, America’s overall retirement system is in big trouble. There’s just one part of that system that’s working well: Social Security. And this suggests that we should make that program stronger, not weaker.
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1. Whatever Krugman advises seems to lead every administration to do the exact opposite . 
2. "...and, to be fair, many people haven’t managed their money wisely." And to be even more fair, 1. many people are not trained in finance and already have full-time jobs, and 2. many people fell for the lie that mutual funds would allow them to "set it and forget it," and 3. the system is rigged against indivuals and rigged for the giant, computer-based traders and the mutual fund companies.
After decades of declining wages, you had any money to save?
My mother-in-law, who DID work from an early age AND all her life collected Social Security when it was her time. She was born into a family of many children and not wealthy. As they grew each child got a job. BUT, almost all of the girls didn't graduate from high school because they were required to help at home. She experienced the Great Depression & didn't marry until she was 27. Rather old for that era of time.
She had my brother-in-law at 30 & my husband at 33 & went right back to work soon after each. She was always able to get a job but not one that paid a high wage. As with my father, her husband joined the Army so we were all Army brats. I myself came from a family of 6 girls and we too went to work early on.
Just a little info, but because my father-in-law never rose above SFC, she worked until he retired. Then they both collected SS when the time came. He preceded her in death & even though they did have a mobile home that was paid for, she ended up collecting around $700 a month. They had saved some money, but then she got Alzheimer's. My husband & I took her in & she lived with us for 10 years & died at age 97.
One thing is for sure, not many people can live on that amount of money today! SHE DID pay into SS almost all of her life, but fortunately she had us to care for her. So many are less fortunate. Her husband never had life insurance, nor did she. So money was something you did try to manage better than so many today. One of my in-laws wishes were that we NEVER sell their property & even though my brother-in-law doesn't want to keep it, we are unable to buy him out. Plus, living here in FL real estate is still difficult to sell.
So now MY financial circumstances are being stretched a lot. We bought our house herr, but we also bought 5 1/2 acres of land as an investment. We do have it up for sale, but there are still many places for sale here and unless we want to take a loss, we continue to pay taxes. That makes 3 places we pay taxes on. Yes, my brother-in-law pays 1/2 the cost of taxes on his parent's place, but we take care of the place. He lives 5 minutes away, we live more than 2 hrs. away. I won't go into THIS story, but it drains us financially. We DID save for our retirement, but because we had a son who became a meth addict for some time, we have little left. He is now clean & has been for over six years. Thankfully, he got married, bought a home & has a son. But it was quite horrible for a long time. He has become very responsible and always works. We consider ourselves extremely lucky that he has stayed clean, but he was sent to jail for 6 months. THAT experience opened his eyes & his girls friends too as she too was an addict.
So, my husband & I who have worked all OUR lives live mostly on our SS. We make less than $30,000 a year, but our son does make an effort to pay us back for the all the money we spent during his addiction time. It was our choice, but his life was saved.
So bottom line, we too DO need SS to live on. We also have a daughter who is married and they have 3 children. I save all year long so we can give them money to spend as gifts for themselves.
It's difficult for us, but we actually consider ourselves LUCKY compared to so many other who have lost homes, and many other things and have nothing left BUT their SS! MIDDLE class is almost a phrase that no longer exists!
Sorry, got carried away... much too long. But our story is the story of more people than not!
I seriously doubt MY Representative Vern Buchanan would care very much. This is a very RED county, and the area is one with many wealthy people. Often called the "cultural center of the Southwest." Many notable people live here.
I've written him before and have even marched in front of his office. He conveniently wasn't there, but we did sign a petition and gave it to his secretaries. Never heard from him, EVER!
And yes, this is a story that needs so much attention, and it's not only my story! It's THE story of far too many others. So for everyone who feels those on SS and or Medicare/Medicaid are dead beats and slackers, just don't want to hear the real facts!
As a long time activist, these days it seems I mostly scream at my PC/TV or throw my hands up in the air in disgust! I've tried to organize so we could present a strong front, but after a little while people just don't show up. The younger generation really needs to get on the ball because it looks like it could get a lot worse! Not the country I understand anymore.
We're really NOT the Beacon of Democracy that I once was so proud of, but we DO like to honk our own horn and spread Democracy to other countries!
Trying to keep people from voting is such hypocrisy, especially since we fight wars so other countries are able too!
-Laelth
