The $17 Trillion Delusion: The Absurdity of Cutting Social Security to Reduce the Federal Debt

[ashling]

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/21154-the-17-trillion-delusion-the-absurdity-of-cutting-social-security-to-reduce-the-federal-debt

[lumberjack_jeff]

1. Exactly right.

This whole charade is intended to create a rationale to welsh on the government's debt to retirees.

Either the debt is a big problem, in which case government should retire that debt by paying it off... to SS retirees.
Or it's not, in which case, STFU.

Since congress is mostly millionaires, they'll eventually succeed.

[Rex]

2. Until they pay back SS the 2.5 trillion owed US

I don't want to hear one single word about touching SS.

[chervilant]

3. From the article you linked:

So the real issue is whether or not society will keep its commitment to retirees. The agenda of those who say we have to cut benefits is really that they don’t want to meet this commitment. We should recognize that this is their agenda, and not let them hide behind the smokescreen of supposedly out-of-control federal debt.

(emphasis mine)

[Kaleva]

4. According to this Wiki article, "debt held by the public was approximately $12.312 trillion..."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States

In 2008, the federal govt. paid 187 billion for interest on debt it owes itself.

Couldn't congress pass a law reducing or eliminating the interest payments on such debt?

[on point]

5. Restore taxes on wealthy to prior rates until they pay down debt

If Bush had not cut taxes and started a war for oil in Iraq we would have paid down the entire debt in 4 years. Then 180 billion we now pay in interest could have been used to fund other aspects of the government.

Embrace the Maddow Plan

Raise taxes on wealthy
Enforce tax collection on corporations, including changing rules so they pay a minimum, no matter what
Tax all income regardless of course the same
Cut the military by at least 50%
Invest in the country infrastructure to create jobs

This will provide plenty of cash to pay down debt.

The only reason we can't do this is the rich and corporations don't want to pay their share.