"We'll fix the economy by stealing more from your retirement!"

Well numnuts has given this very same speech each year since he has been in office! Nothing has changed and he is paying for it by raisng taxes and closing loopholes! Most agree that closing loopholes [Taking away tax incentives for business' that can't make it on their own], those loopholes also include a write-off for your mortgage, any money you give to charity, incentives to go green with solar/wind or rebates for buying energy star marked appliances! You will now pay full price. Just to let you know before jumping on the "close the loophole wagon! Well there is more, so read on as it affects EVERYONE:If you read my column with any regularity, you have a good idea of where I stand on the Social Security program. But in a nutshell: I believe the way in which it was initially constructed — and, more importantly, continually expanded over the years — makes it unsustainable in its current form. And that's especially true given the current state of our economy and changing demographics, too.
Yet I'm continually amazed at just how clueless our politicians seem to be on the rather basic equations involved here.
I mean, really: Obama's latest jobs plan involves yet another REDUCTION in the amount Americans will be contributing to the program? Plus, it now ALSO reduces the amount that most American employers will also be paying into the system?
Yowza! To me, this simply sounds like another case of robbing additional money from American retirement coffers to "fix" some other problem that Washington finds more immediate.
Moreover, it's absolutely astounding how many poor projections, half-truths, and outright lies we've been getting fed about this program.
Just look at the sequence of events over the last couple years and you'll see what I mean!
Let's sort the facts out one by one, in chronological order ...
Fact #1. As recently as 2009, the Social Security Administration was predicting that the program would begin taking in less than it paid out in 2017.
Fact #2. Then, just one year later in 2010, the Social Security program took in less money than it paid out. (The first time since the 1980s.)
Fact #3. This annual shortfall was blamed on the poor economy — i.e. fewer employed people paying in and others choosing to retire early, thus increasing the amount of money being paid in benefits.
Fact #4. At the time, the Social Security Administration said it would only be a temporary slip and that a permanent state of deficits would actually begin in 2016. (Note revision from previous estimate.)
Fact #5. In 2011, the Congressional Budget Office came out and said that the Social Security program had already entered a permanent state of annual deficits. (Woops again.)
Fact #6. Despite the idea that Social Security had already reached a permanent state of underfunding, politicians decided to "stimulate the economy" by LOWERING the amount of money each employed American pays into the system in 2011 — from 6.2 percent of the first $106,800 in earnings down to 4.2 percent.
Fact #7. This change was said to be a temporary measure for the year 2011 only.
Fact #8. Last week, President Obama said we should further stimulate the economy and create more jobs by having working Americans pay even less into Social Security in 2012 — i.e. 3.1 percent vs. this year's already-reduced 4.2 percent and the previous full rate of 6.2 percent.
Fact #9. President Obama went one step further by proposing that American employers should also see their part of Social Security contributions slashed in half for the first $5 million in their payrolls for 2012. Please note that this year's reduction did NOT cover employers at all. They have continued to put in 6.2 percent on as much as $106,800 for each of their employees.
Fact #10. It was reiterated that these would be temporary measures, and lawmakers would totally offset the costs with new cost cuts by 2014. Yes, the same lawmakers who took us to the brink of default just a few months ago because they couldn't agree on cost cuts before this new proposal was in play.
All told, these new cuts to Social Security payments will total about $240 billion (out of the $447 billion proposed in Obama's jobs plan). So that's another quarter of a trillion dollars in retirement money we'll have to make up some other time, I guess.
You know, if it weren't such a serious topic, this would make for some great slapstick comedy. Can't you just imagine Abbott and Costello doing a little routine?

Abbott: "Okay, how do we fix Social Security?"
Costello: "Get more money into the system."
Abbott: "Great. How do we do that?"
Costello: "Simple. Create more jobs."
Abbott: "Okay, so how do we do that?"
Costello: "Just stimulate the economy, stupid."
Abbott: "Got it. Just one more question then. What would stimulate the economy?"
Costello: "Putting less money into Social Security, obviously!"

Please bear in mind that you can start the above dialogue at any point — with jobs, the economy, or the Social Security system's state of disrepair. It really doesn't matter because the circular logic will just keep taking you round and round all the same.
Seriously, It's Amazing Just How Bad
This Entire Situation Has Become!
Hey, I'm as glad as anyone to pay less into Social Security for as long as possible. (Or to join the Amish in opting out of the program entirely!)
At the same time, I recognize that the beast that Washington has created is now the retirement lifeblood for tens of millions of Americans. They paid their fair share into the system and are counting on getting their fair share back out.
So I simply have to shake my head at how far off the rails things are getting.
It was bad enough that Washington begged, borrowed and stole from the surpluses that had built up after the last major overhaul ...
It was worse that we were approaching systemic shortfalls going into the second decade of the new millennium ...
And it's absolutely appalling that we are now bankrupting the program even further with new legislation in the name of jump-starting the economy.