You are completely wrong with respect to having more ability to save today. Please present your hard data. I have several data basis and will provide a year by year, income by income analysis of a family of four if you like. The truth is the government which has grown the most is Social Security.
Do I benefit from roads, airports and the like? Sure, but so do the seniors who use them also. In fact this is part of the problem. When financing infrastructure, one must always finance it over a period of time which is less than or equal to the life expetancy of the item being financed. If not you get what we have today with multiple bonds being paid on for the same infrastructure. In simple terms, those at the end pay more dearly than those up front.
Number two. It is a clear fact FICA has squeezed out the federal income taxs which normally would have been paid. By squeezing out federal income taxes, what have has happened? First we had to borrow money. We now pay interst on the borrowed money. Had FICA not been raised, we would not have borrowed money and we would not be paying more than $350 Billion this year in interest. This $350 billion would have provided more education, welfare, roads, etc or reduced taxation. Why is the Federal Income Taxes not more? The reason is FICA is high and congress wanted to help the worker after screwing him with FICA tax increases.
In summary many people believe we have borrowed from Social Security, but the reality is Social Security has borrowed heavily from everything else and has created a $5.4 Trillion debt. If you do not believe this, just look at your tax forms from 1970 on. It is clear as a bell the steady tax credits, exemptions which were added each time FICA was increased.
It is like the guy I hear who wrote a check and put it in the church offeratory and then took change back. He has a check to prove chairty while having the cash to go to lunch. Social Security is the same thing. You put your money in thinking you are paying for roads, schools, welfare etc and then want your social security back. The reality is we stopped paying for our infrastructure back in 1970 and began giving the money to a specific group of people.
The mean income, without Capital Gains, for those over 65 is more than $32,000 a year. I find it appalling that people think this group of people are poor. Since 1976, I have never seen one bill passed where senior contributed to the solution. It has always been the worker who paid the higher taxes. It is time the senior contribute to the solution. Eliminate Social Security and make it need based!!
