Does anyone remember Thom Hartman saying this?

[newfie11]

I remember hearing him twice say that because of the baby boomer's the folks now are paying for themselves and for the future person to have either SS or medicare? Then after so many years we start paying again just for 1 person. Does anyone have any idea on this. The reason I ask is that I was at an AARP meeting last night (statewide meeting for the general public in NE). They were asking for how to improve the SS and medicare in this country. So I did bring up the public option and the guy with the mike ran away.

I could not remember exactly what Thom Hartman had said about the above exactly or would have said that. I probably said enough anyway as I was called a socialist. HA HA.

[LAGC]

1. It's true that once we get over the Baby Boomers hump, the burden will once again go back down.

So the so-called coming Social Security "crisis" coming up in a couple decades is really more of a temporary problem, we may only need to raise taxes/revenue for a few decades to cover it, but its not a permanent problem that will forever break the bank.

[tech3149]

2. Indeed, Reagan initiated an increase in contributions

That increase initiated on advice of his economic team meant that boomers, like me, were paying contributions not only for current recipients but for ourselves. The idea was to get past the hump and then drop the contributions to previous levels. Between raiding the contributions for the general fund to hide the deficit and reduced population growth, that will never happen now.

[eridani]

3. Correct. FICA was raised in 1983 specifically to build up the SocSec Trust Fund--

--for Boomer retirement. We are the first generation to prepay our retirement at the same time we paid for our parents. The trust fund should be fully depleted as the last of us kicks the bucket, and then it can go back to one on one until some similar demographic issue comes up.

[newfie11]

4. Thank you all so much.

I wish I had of asked this yesterday BEFORE going to that meeting last night.

[Bluenorthwest]

5. Do not forget that AARP is in the Insurance racket....so public option is not to their

liking. They are not a grassroots group of elders, they are an Insurance clearing house and marketing tool. So there's that. Of course he ran, he wants to sell them products....

[newfie11]

6. Right you are!

They were not happy with me. There were about 60 seniors there and only two of us spoke up. The rest just blamed the illegals???? Go Figure. I really hope people are more educated in another state and a younger age group coming up. If what I heard last night is country wide it would be like leading a lamb to slaughter.
They bought AARPs bullshit hook, line. and sinker.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Remember there are fundamental differences in funding SS and Medicare

Social Security, with the amount currently assigned to it from payroll taxes, would almost be able to continue indefinitely. A small increase in 'funds in' (eg by raising the threshold above which payroll taxes aren't taken) would fix it completely.

Medicare, on the other hand, will suffer from the far larger medical costs, now and even more in the future, and will go bust, without a major change, twice as fast as SS (12 years from now, rather than 24).

Social Security: "After 2022, trust fund assets will be redeemed in amounts that exceed interest earnings until trust fund reserves are exhausted in 2036"

Medicare: "The projected date of HI Trust Fund exhaustion is 2024, five years earlier than estimated in last year’s report"

Both quotes from http://www.ssa.gov/oact/TRSUM/index.html