"Social Security Isn't An Entitlement Because You Pay Into it. You've Earned It."

[stopbush]

AAAARRRRGGH!

Thus was the claim made in a FB group of people from my old hometown in Ohio.

Even after I posted the definition of a federal entitlement drawn from multiple government and private-industry sources declaring that Social Security and Medicare were THE two largest entitlement programs in the country, they stuck to their guns that they weren't entitlements. Apparently, they are entitled (pun intended) to their own definitions if it suits their belief system.

No, it seems that "entitlements" are those programs that support the lazy "takers" in the country, things like welfare. It couldn't possibly include things that all those god-fearing white people are getting as government benefits.

Needless to say, the amount of misinformation being tossed out on the subject was staggering. When I suggested that these people had been bamboozled by Rs into thinking that Rs were not going after their SS and Medicare when they talk about cutting entitlements, well, I was then taking information and "twisting it around to mean the opposite. You should be ashamed of yourself for spreading such lies! Go back to your godless California and leave us alone!"

This is what we're up against in this country. The conceit that words mean nothing, that reality is whatever one says it is, and that a reality free of facts is more legitimate than one based on, well, reality.

[stopbush]

1. Oh, and Social Security isn't socialism.

It's a pension that you pay into for your whole life and that the government simple pays back to you over time.

When I pointed out that SS becomes more socialistic the earlier you die or the longer you live, I was "spouting godless crap."

And the Speaker of the House is from Ohio.

[Cal33]

10. You're right. And "You're getting back YOUR OWN MONEY" can be stressed. It might help

a few more Right-Wingers to catch on.

[JackRiddler]

15. In fact, it's Bismarck's response to socialism.

[frazzled]

2. They think it's like an IRA or 401k

It's not. On any number of levels.

First of all, in Social Security you pay into a system, not into an individual account of your own which then is invested and grows, as in a private investment account. The money you and I pay into Social Security goes to pay current retirees, not our own retirements.

Second, Social Security is a defined benefit, based on a formula for the wages you earned while working, up to a certain point. Unlike an investment account—which could lose its value based on stock or bond fluctuations by the time you retire, or which could run out of money if you live to be 102—the benefit you get from Social Security is a set amount, with cost-of-living increases, that you will get for the rest of your life, no matter what you "paid into" it.

Indeed, unless you die young, most of us will get back from Social Security much more than we ever put into it. This is especially true for older retirees like my father, who will turn 98 at the end of this year. Who ever in a million years (not him) thought they would be receiving retirement payments for almost thirty years (he waited until he was 70 or 71, whatever age you can put it off to to get the best benefit). It's quite a remarkable system: a real safety net.

[stopbush]

3. Well, they don't think, they believe.

Thinking would require thinking, examining a few facts, etc. Much easier to assert a belief and stick to it.

Now, take your Commie "facts" and clear out!

BTW - only people who vote for God's Own Party should still get SS when they're 98.

[WinkyDink]

4. Some people just don't "do" nuance and connotations.

[rock]

12. Particularly politicians and political activists

[spanone]

5. you are entitled to it. it's YOUR money.

[Igel]

11. You pay taxes.

And according to the rules Congress established, you qualify for SS or you don't.

Because it's a funding source that Congress has laid out qualifications for, it's an entitlement. By qualifying, you're entitled. Which means that the law gives you a right to collect. It's not an inherent right; it's a right determined by specific legislation.

Congress raises benefits not because you pay in more, but because it wants to. If Congress wanted to discontinue benefits, it could, even if it paid a political price. There'd be no legal price to pay.

You're mostly paying for somebody else's retirement. Just like the money you paid in property taxes wasn't saved up for your kids (if you had any) but to teach other people's kids. The money you pay for insurance isn't saved in an account with your name on it, but is expended as necessary for other people--who will be contributing when you need to draw more than you pay.

FICA is an income tax. It's one that Congress has internally earmarked, but that's the authority under which Congress collects it. The "deal" is that it functions more like an insurance program--but the "premiums" are strictly income tax and the payouts are strictly as entitlements, no different from SNAP or Medicaid or Medicare or VA benefits.

It's an entitlement. By definition and by law.

Anybody who's told you otherwise is deceiving you (whether intentionally or not, I can't say) and wants to scare you into thinking that you "own" something you don't, and if it's changed you're being robbed. That's rhetoric bordering on demagoguery. It's also fairly common these days, because people really don't like it when words have a fixed meaning. They should be alive, malleable, flexible, able to change their meanings as the speaker wants them to change in order to manipulate and achieve his goals. Not to communicate information. Not for clarity.

[sendero]

6. Let's put it this way..

... SS is an entitlement that is PRE-FUNDED BY PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS for 20+ years out.

The fact that the money was spent on pointless wars and tax cuts for the wealthy has no bearing on the fact that the monies are owed to the contributors.

[Enthusiast]

8. You put it correctly.

[Wellstone ruled]

7. Yes,thinking is required.

Wonderful safety net. Paid in for fifty two years,never a bitch,like I say,thinking is required. Saved my parents and Grand parents from early demise. Love this Socialist Program it does help. Been through three employer BK's stealing our defined pensions. See many coworkers just struggle day to day and if it wasn't for their SS and Medicaid,they would be in Potters Field. We got lucky and were able to Bank a few bucks at the right time to be able to enjoy something extra from time to time. Ronnie the Raygun really f---ed over so many and they sill think he was the greatest. Give me a break! Yes, thinking is required.

[Enthusiast]

9. There are no good alternatives to social security and medicare.

If we examine private pension plans we can see that social security is far more reliable.

There are any number of miscreants that want to get their hands on the FICA contributions. They're the same miscreants that crashed the economy and were rewarded for it.

[riseabove]

13. WELLLLL ... lol you may not want to hear it, but most SS and Medicaire recipients get back more then

they put in. So if you put in 100k and getting back 300k in benefits like a lot of people are getting because they are living longer.... then I think unfortunately it does start to cross the entitlement line.

When people used to retire, I believe I read the average lifespan after retirement was 5 years. Now people are living 10-20 years longer after they retire and therefore they are in fact getting more then they put it in.

I would link the information but I'm scared lol. It's not a right wing site but if you google, you will see the info is out there.

It sucks but if you're going to fight the fight, I don't want you to get blindsided.

[DirkGently]

14. Tribalism. People trust their "group"

more than the actual ideas or policies being put forward. All the racial dog whistles, and the long, long line of Elderly White Men in the White House demonstrate that pretty clearly.

And it's not just the "rubes" who think that way.

The Obama Administration hasn't hurt big business or Wall Street one whit, but you still hear them talk about an atmosphere "uncertainty" because of Who Is In The White House.