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Problems with Social Security
By Drew Bland
October 13, 2004
The men who saved the world in two world wars have been called "the greatest generation." But they and their baby boomer children have put the current generation of young people on the road to a possible depression with Social Security.
In four years the first of the baby boomers, those born from 1946-64, will turn 62 and qualify for early retirement benefits. USA TODAY found federal, state and local governments need $53 trillion dollars right now in order to cover the debt incurred by Social Security and Medicare benefits.
Wall Street View puts the combined Gross Domestic Product of the entire planet at about $50 trillion.
What does this mean for anyone born after 1965? To keep the current level of benefits, all federal taxes will have to be doubled immediately and permanently. All state taxes would rise immediately and permanently by 20 percent. Imagine the government taking away more than half of your paycheck for the rest of your life. Or, imagine working two weeks every month for Uncle Sam.
Is this fair? No.
I am reminded of the Declaration of Independence and its complaints of taxation without representation. Our elders laid the groundwork for this scheme while we were in the womb.
The other side of the coin is to keep taxes the way they are, but cut retirement benefits by one half. This is hardly fair either, because we do owe something to those who've raised us. So there has to be some give and take, but both presidential candidates are mum.
Their silence on the matter is baffling. No other single problem, not even the War on Terror, has such catastrophic consequences. If nothing is done, or if something is done wrong, the crushing debt will send the value of the dollar plummeting. Combine this with rising taxes and decreased buying power from higher import prices and you have a recipe for a depression. Social Security is poised to single-handedly bring the United States down from its position of world superpower.
Our parents and grandparents should be taken care of, but the planet's greatest nation wasn't built on socialism. Social Security is a shining example of why government needs to be limited, because its meddling hands only make things worse.
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