Numbers

[H8tank]

#1 $200 billion is the approximate total amount of write-downs announced so far as a result of the current credit crisis.

 

#2 $14.1 trillion is the size of the entire U.S. economy

 

#3 And $53 trillion is the approximate size of this country's bill for the Social Security and Medicare promises we've made.

 

[MrTed46]

#1 $200 billion is the approximate total amount of write-downs announced so far as a result of the current credit crisis.

 

#2 $14.1 trillion is the size of the entire U.S. economy

 

#3 And $53 trillion is the approximate size of this country's bill for the Social Security and Medicare promises we've made.

 

 

Looks reasonable to me.

 

$53 trillion is not over 1 yr span and 14.1 trillion is the current market volume i suppose for us economy. I dont know what "size" means

 

But I do think our SS will expire soon or get reformed in a major way.

[dmarc117]

WASHINGTON (AP) - Trustees for the government's two biggest benefit programs warned Tuesday that Social Security and Medicare are facing enormous financial challenges, with the threats to Medicare far more severe.

 

The trustees, issuing a once-a-year analysis of the government's two biggest benefit programs, said the resources in the Social Security trust fund will be depleted by 2041. The reserves in the Medicare trust fund that pays hospital benefits were projected to be wiped out by 2019.

 

Both those dates were the same as in last year's report. But the trustees warned that financial pressures will begin much sooner when the programs begin paying out more in benefits each year than they collect in payroll taxes. For Medicare, that threshhold is projected to be reached this year and for Social Security it is projected to occur in 2017.

 

i already know that those soc sec and medicare tax dollars i pay are gone!! youre welcome old timers!!!

[Puddy]

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Trustees for the government's two biggest benefit programs warned Tuesday that Social Security, the U.S. state pension system, and Medicare are facing "enormous challenges," with the threat to Medicare's solvency far more severe.

 

The trustees, issuing a once-a-year analysis of the government's two biggest benefit programs, said the resources in the Social Security trust fund will be depleted by 2041. The reserves in the Medicare trust fund that pays hospital benefits were projected to be wiped out by 2019.

 

Link

 

Don't delay in signing up and funding one of them there Health Savings Account as you're going to need it (or spend your entire 401k on medical expenses).

 

 

Edit: Or what dmarc posted.

Edited March 28, 2008 by Puddy

[dmarc117]

Link

 

Don't delay in signing up and funding one of them there Health Savings Account as you're going to need it (or spend your entire 401k on medical expenses).

Edit: Or what dmarc posted.

 

 

do you think that one answer may be to let people take out from iras and seps tax free for medical expenses?

[Ursa Majoris]

do you think that one answer may be to let people take out from iras and seps tax free for medical expenses?

That would be helpful but a drop in the bucket. By 2070 or thereabouts, Medicare on it's own will entirely consume the federal budget. No defense, no SS, no welfare, no aid, no anything - just Medicare.

 

SS is a simple problem to fix given the political will but Medicare is something else again. I don't think I've ever seen a proposed real solution for the problem.

[i_am_the_swammi]

There will be measures taken in the coming decades to ensure that our aging population are not left without medical care.

 

think 35-40% income taxes, and you'll be getting warmer.

 

Edit to Add: Glad to see this nation is spending trillions of dollars on a "military action" it has zero chance of winning. GW, step up and claim your prize as perhaps the worst leader in the history of modern politics. Your country hates, er, thanks you.

Edited March 28, 2008 by i_am_the_swammi

[MrTed46]

There will be measures taken in the coming decades to ensure that our aging population are not left without medical care.

 

think 35-40% income taxes, and you'll be getting warmer.

 

Edit to Add: Glad to see this nation is spending trillions of dollars on a "military action" it has zero chance of winning. GW, step up and claim your prize as perhaps the worst leader in the history of modern politics. Your country hates, er, thanks you.

 

GW is the worst president in US History. I dont know about the worst leader in history.

 

but hes bad

[Double Agent]

No one should panic...Hussein Obama will pull us out of this. Change is what we need.

[godtomsatan]

If someone had the balls to keep Congress from spending the 17% of every paycheck that gets taken for the purposes of social security for one single year, how much of a lifespan would it be given?

[AtomicCEO]

I agree with the conservatives here that healthcare is too expensive, and that the free market model is inappropriate when we are talking about pricing life and death.

 

Universal health care it is. That will replace the floundering Medicare system. I'm surprised dtart and H8 are on board with it.

[Cyclones]

Guess I'll just move back to Canada after I retire.

[Dr. Sacrebleu]

I love how conservatives have no problem leaving all of today's problems for future generations (say, like, I dunno the War in Iraq, the environment, and oil dependency, animal extinction) but get chicken little about dates that are 30 years away when it suits them ("Think of the chiiiiiildren")

[Randall]

I love how conservatives have no problem leaving all of today's problems for future generations (say, like, I dunno the War in Iraq, the environment, and oil dependency, animal extinction) but get chicken little about dates that are 30 years away when it suits them ("Think of the chiiiiiildren")

 

 

What's conservative about going deeply in debt to the Chinese(our competitors in the global economy), redistributing wealth so the investment class pays far less than the working classes? And giving the government to corporartions?

 

These are not conservatives.

[H8tank]

I love how conservatives have no problem leaving all of today's problems for future generations (say, like, I dunno the War in Iraq, the environment, and oil dependency, animal extinction) but get chicken little about dates that are 30 years away when it suits them ("Think of the chiiiiiildren")

 

 

Uhm, you do know that demonrats and lieberals are running the show, right?

[Dr. Sacrebleu]

I'd forgotten that H8 was illiterate, so I will do it again real slowly.

You see H8, you seemed to have posted some numbers that seem pretty dire. And in fact if 53 billion is what we 'owe' and 14 trilliion is what we 'have', I would tend to agree with you. Those are some scary numbers. My surprise is that conservatives use this number and plead for us to think of the chiiiildren and that this is just wasteful, irresponsible behaviour ONLY because they hate the idea of Social Security. They somehow never think long term about any of theother gazillion things they do or vote for. I do beleive your man Cheney was quoted as saying "deficits don't matter'.

See what I'm trying to tell you?

 

PS Did you get your 100 clams that we 'wagered' for entertainment purposes only on the super big game?

[Jimmy Neutron]

They somehow never think long term about any of the other gazillion things they do or vote for.

 

Yeah, conservatives are the only ones guilty of that.

 

I can't decide who's dumber, folks who still believe in the GOP or those who suggest democrats are the answer.

 

The only answer is a complete overhaul of our political system. Anything short of a consensus from our citizenry demanding exactly that will be a dismal failure for our country and the future generations both sides so frequently tout.

[H8tank]

PS Did you get your 100 clams that we 'wagered' for entertainment purposes only on the super big game?

 

Yes, I donated it to the "Kill my liver fund"

[westvirginia]

Yeah, conservatives are the only ones guilty of that.

 

I can't decide who's dumber, folks who still believe in the GOP or those who suggest democrats are the answer.

 

The only answer is a complete overhaul of our political system. Anything short of a consensus from our citizenry demanding exactly that will be a dismal failure for our country and the future generations both sides so frequently tout.

 

Jimmy speaketh the TROOF!

 

Vote third party in November! Better yet, vote libertarian!

[whoopazz]

GW is the worst president in US History. I dont know about the worst leader in history.

 

but hes bad

+1

Clueless politician...

[Dr. Sacrebleu]

Yeah, conservatives are the only ones guilty of that.

 

While obviously both parties tend to think in the here and now, and consequences be damned, conservatives beleive as a matter of political philosophy that the market will take care of future problems. You can obviously take liberals to task for thinking that government is the solution, or for trying to micromanage a free market, but if you think that both parties are equally guilty of leaving problems to future generations, you are just wrong.

[untateve]

Yeah, conservatives are the only ones guilty of that.

 

I can't decide who's dumber, folks who still believe in the GOP or those who suggest democrats are the answer.

 

The only answer is a complete overhaul of our political system. Anything short of a consensus from our citizenry demanding exactly that will be a dismal failure for our country and the future generations both sides so frequently tout.

 

And yet, most of those who vote in this country will reward the dems and the repubs, thereby giving our elected officials absolutely no reason to change how they do business.

 

 

While obviously both parties tend to think in the here and now, and consequences be damned, conservatives beleive as a matter of political philosophy that the market will take care of future problems. You can obviously take liberals to task for thinking that government is the solution, or for trying to micromanage a free market, but if you think that both parties are equally guilty of leaving problems to future generations, you are just wrong.

 

I am not aware that the either Obama or Hillary have offered solutions/plans to correct/fund social security or medicare.

[Jimmy Neutron]

I am not aware that the either Obama or Hillary have offered solutions/plans to correct/fund social security or medicare.

 

Programs created by FDR and LBJ - democrats if I recall correctly. If the numbers are anywhere near correct from the story last week, that's a 54 trillion dollar problem left for future generations. Nice try, Dr. Sac, but this one is not even close.