As I asked previous can Enron raise taxes and pay the retirees? The government can pay SS benefits. The promise was made by a government that governed ALL the US citizens so ALL the citizens are responsible. It's like household income and a spouse's debt. I'm not sure how things are today but I recall the husband was responsible for his wife's debt. In any case she is entitled to half the assets so either the husband pays the debt or sells the house and gives half the money to his wife to give to the creditors. The same applies to other assets.
The same principal applies to SS. The retirees are owed that money from the government and the citizens of the US installed the government that made that deal so, ultimately, the citizens are responsible.
Well the Enron employees also paid in their money, and the company had promised to pay them as well. But like SS, when the time came to pay up, the money was not there, it had been pilfered. So which system is "better for the people?" The capitalist system, whereby Enron can be hauled into court and the people who took the money, held accountable and punished ...or the Government system, where politicians have helped themselves to the money, and will never be held accountable for their theft? It doesn't matter who promised what, Apple. I can promise you I'll give you a million dollars on Friday, that doesn't mean you are going to get it.
OK. Here are your poignant questions.
I already indirectly answered it. The government simply raises taxes or cuts other programs. The government is not out of money. As long as one US citizen has one penny the government has one penny. It’s as simple as that. The government was elected by the people to speak for them and cut deals for them. SS is a deal made by an elected government and the people, by electing them, are obliged to honor that deal. Otherwise, the government has no credibility.
Well no, the government can't "simply raise taxes" and pay back a trust fund that took decades to accumulate. And why should more taxes be paid to replace money that was taken? Isn't that like saying... Well Enron could have just given everyone a pay cut and used that money to pay the employees retirement? We've already paid taxes, just like the Enron people had already invested their money. Now the money is gone. With Enron, we could go after the culprits, put them in prison for what they did, but that doesn't apply to those who pilfered our SS trust fund. You keep pointing out a 'trust factor' ...the promise made... but Enron also had a trust factor, promises had been made. The difference is, when Enron's promise was broken, we had legal recourse. When the government breaks its promise, you're shit outta luck. PAY MORE TAXES BITCH! That's your solution!
And many struggle all their life just to make ends meet or are hit by hardship through no fault of their own.
But there again... someone who is motivated and determined to not be poor, will not let adversity triumph. Hardships and struggles feed their motivation. They don't sit around having a pity party about what is not their fault and why they couldn't help it, and who is to blame. That's what POOR people do, who lack the motivation to be anything else. Do you think Donald Trump would have ever come back from bankruptcy to become one of the richest people in America, had he adopted the mindset that his bankruptcy was an unbearable hardship which was no fault of his own? What if he had just thrown up his hands and said, I give up... I tried and failed, and it wasn't my fault, so I have to sit here with my hand out? My guess is, he would have never regained his wealth. But that's where rich people differ from poor people.
Someone once asked Trump, was it more difficult to become a millionaire the second time? He said; "Actually, it was harder the first time, because the second time, I
KNEW I could do it!"
So what are you implying? Are you saying people are content to live on welfare?
Yep, that's what I am saying exactly. Some people are perfectly content to live in poverty and on welfare, dependent on society and filled with the mindset that nothing is their fault, they aren't to blame for their lot in life, and there is nothing they can do but accept things as they are.
Do you know of anyone who had a decent job quit that job so they could collect welfare?
Actually, yes I do, to be honest. If you consider 'disability' to be 'welfare' which I do. I know several people who once had decent paying jobs, but now collect a monthly disability check, because they supposedly have "an immune system disorder" or "back problems" or any number of other hyped up reasons people can now claim a disability. I know someone right now, who has been unemployed for almost two years, and draws an unemployment check. I saw them last weekend getting ready to go to the lake. Would they be headed off to the lake for a weekend of leisure if there wasn't a UE check in the mailbox? Could they maybe have found some kind of job somewhere, had there not been a steady flow of money the past two years? I'm betting, whenever this guy's UE finally runs out (we keep extending it for him), he will be motivated to go out there and find some kind of job to earn an income.
You talk about $1050/mth for a family. I assume you’re referring to a family of four. Do you have any idea what it would be like to live on that income? But you go even further and even imply people actually want to keep living on that income. That works out to $6.05/hr for a 40 hour week.
Or perhaps this smilie is more appropriate.
And you believe that amount of money discourages people from seeking work? Are you fukin’ with me?
Again, there are some people motivated to not live in that condition anymore. They make up their minds that nothing is going to stop them, they are going to be successful, and adversity is just an obstacle they must overcome on their own. Do you think Oprah Winfrey has ever once credited 'welfare' for her success? She certainly came from a family dependent on welfare. It wasn't 'welfare' that 'helped' Oprah, it was Oprah who helped Oprah, by having the mindset to not remain poor. By not wallowing in self-pity or finding blame in others for her lot in life.
I'm not responding to the rest of your post because this isn't a discussion about health care.
