From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!ihnp4!houxz!houxi!houxa!houxb!lmg Newsgroups: net.misc Title: Re: Social Security solution Article-I.D.: houxb.198 Posted: Wed Jan 26 20:38:06 1983 Received: Sat Jan 29 09:02:16 1983 References: hocda.234 iwsl2.135 Here's another vote for opting out of the SS joke. Of course, there is no way in hell the government will let us do that. In fact, the plan of the "Bipartisan Social Security Commission" is just the opposite: Force EVERYBODY into Social Security! Right now, non-profit organizations and state and local governments can withdraw from the SS system after giving 2 years notice. Los Angeles county just withdrew the other week. They said that by investing their money in IRA plans instead of in SS their employees could realize MUCH BETTER BENEFITS than under SS. I believe the county also took private health insurance plans into account (as a replacement for Medicare) when making their decision. The idea that the SS system can be "saved" by making it universal and even more mandatory confirms my long held belief that the system owes its existence to many people paying in large amounts of money and then DYING without collecting anything. Forcing people presently exempt to participate in a program which is unsound and probably fraudulent is to me a highly immoral act. Two more points: 1. FICA is a "regressive" tax, as has been mentioned, but the bebefits are also regressive, that is, you get (more or less) what you pay for regardless of your income. The system may be a fraud, but I feel the tax is fair. 2. One of the currently "popular" plans for "saving" the SS system is to tax 1/2 of the benefits of anyone who has > $25000 in other (say, pension) income. This would eliminate the advantage of (1) above by making the system as a whole "progressive". At present, about 30% of receipients fall into that category, but of course inflation (no matter HOW low) will eventually bring us the $25000 Big Mac and cause EVERYBODY to be in that category no matter how poor they are in real terms. Larry Geary Computer Sciences Corporation at American Bell Inc, Holmdel ...npois!houxb!lmg