The Silence of the Sheep: A Tragedy

I keep wondering why there is so much silence from the previously vocal and seemingly politically interested folks.  You know, the people who loved to quote the Left’s mistruths about Trump and his supporters.  The folks who voted for niceness and unity. 

I realize that they have in essence been instructed to go silent if they disagree with Biden or the Left agenda.  I realize they may believe such silence is a form of unity (which in the Biden-Left world means silence of all differing views).  But really, how could they be so vocal about even the slightest piece of nothing if it involved Donald Trump and yet remain so silent on even the most outrageous words or actions of Joe Biden?

Not a peep when Biden makes the most sexist and demeaning remarks or when he makes clearly erroneous statements about important issues about which the facts are undeniably clear.  Little more than a tut-tut when we learn that Cuomo is directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of seniors.  No notice when Biden’s AG nominee will not condemn the idea of having a head of the civil rights division who has blatantly declared that one racial group is superior to another, or  that he will distinguish as less important/not domestic terrorism recent attacks on government courthouses and other buildings if they happened at night.  Nary a flutter at the volume of racially motivated actions and appointments coming out of this White House. 

OK, maybe those were not big enough to notice.  How about the full out attack on women’s sports?  How about a Coronavirus package that will add significantly to the national debt, but has very little to do with Coronavirus but instead seems to bankroll extreme Leftist policies?  How about the on-going and ever more aggressive acts of cancel-culture?  How about an immigration “policy” that simply opens the doors without really any significant criteria, no consideration of criminal history or purpose for entering this county, not to mention a total disregard of possible Covid transmission – a consideration that at the same time is denying our children a real education and destroying small businesses everyday due to safety precautions – precautions that apparently do not apply to immigrants, legal or illegal?  How about Biden’s “Equality Act” which the Catholic League has labeled the “most comprehensive assault on Christianity ever written into law”?  Or the indoctrination programs in schools and government offices that are not only filled with misinformation but that teach hatred towards specific identity groups and hence work to divide and destroy our country?

Indeed, every action coming out of this administration since January 20^th (and there are many more than those listed above) seems to be designed to turn America on its head if not destroy it altogether.  And yet there is silence.  Silence on the drastic effect on taxes and employment and simply on the American dream. 

Where are all those people who just last year had such loud voices?  Do they really approve of all that is going on?  Do they know what is going on?  Or are they just sheep, doing as told with no thought of their own?  When told to bleat loudly and angrily they did so.  Now have they been told to quietly and contently baa?  It would seem so.  And like silent sheep, they are being led to slaughter; the tragedy is that they are taking the entire country with them.

Thinking About Social Security

During the past week I have had conversations with at least 3 people about Social Security.  In a variety of ways it seems to be on the mind and there seems to be a fair amount of confusion out there.  So, let me offer some thoughts.

First, yes, Social Security is an entitlement.  The U.S. Senate glossary of terms defines entitlement as follows:

entitlement - A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.

That is, recipients of the Social Security entitlement automatically receive the benefits for which they are eligible based on the eligibility criteria (40 “quarters” of eligible earnings).  No one is dependent on annual Congressional appropriations to receive their Social Security benefits. 

Not all social programs are entitlements.  For example, SNAP (food stamps) is also an entitlement program.  In contrast, the Housing Voucher Program is not an entitlement program because Congress appropriates a certain sum of money for the program which may or may not be enough for all who seek funds from the program.

Entitlement programs require mandatory spending.  Mandatory spending is generally governed by statutory criteria; it is not normally set by annual appropriation acts.  The Congressional Budget Office notes “Social Security and some other mandatory spending programs are in effect indefinitely, but some (for example, some agriculture programs) expire at the end of a given period.”  Essentially what this means is that the Government could (though it is unlikely that it will) alter or end the program.

The money that you receive in your Social Security payment is not the same money that you put into the program.  The Social Security taxes that you paid along with the amount that your employer contributed on your behalf was put into the government’s Social Security coffers and used to pay other individuals who were receiving Social Security benefits while you were working.  Not unlike a ponzi scheme, the money you paid with the promise that it would be returned to you was used to pay off the promise that was made to someone else.

Social Security was created because FDR and others in power at the time (during the Great Depression) believed that workers were not making wise choices for their own retirement and that the government could create a retirement plan for all workers.  This would mean that workers would pay a larger portion of their paycheck to the government in the form of additional taxes specifically designated for Social Security.  Rather than choose their own retirement plan, all workers would participate in the same government run plan.  (The current Payroll Tax rate for social security is 6.2% for the employer and 6.2% for the employee, or 12.4% total. The current rate for Medicare is 1.45% for the employer and 1.45% for the employee, or 2.9% total.) 

Now, I can’t help but think that if I had been able to keep the money that I paid to Social Security, and had invested it wisely I would have a far better retirement income than I have under Social Security.  But the question is, would I have done that or would I have spent that money on shoes and wine or some other frivolity?  Had I wasted the money away, I might be less well off than I am with Social Security. 

The important thing to note here is that whatever I would have done with that money and however I would have ended up in retirement would have been my choice and not that of the government.  I had the freedom to choose and would have been left with the consequences of my choices.

So, Social Security is an example of turning over one aspect of our freedom to the government – we have ceded to them our freedom to choose how to plan for retirement.  In return they have promised us that we will have the amount that they decide is fair based at least in part upon the amount that we and our employer contributed on our behalf. 

So far, this has worked to ensure that everyone who worked at least 40 quarters will have some sort of income when they retire.  But it has removed the ability of those workers to use that money - the Payroll Taxes – in ways that might be better suited to them.  Private retirement plans allow the individual to determine not only how much money they will invest, but also when they will collect the money they have put in, how much they will collect, etc. 

Social Security is entirely run by the government.  The government is in full control. The Social Security program requires workers and their employers, along with self-employed individuals, to pay into the system throughout their working years. Congress decides how much of your paycheck is taxed in order to contribute to the Social Security fund.  The government decides when you contribute.  The government decides how much to give you, and when you can start collecting those benefits.  There are only a few very narrow exceptions of who can opt out of the program. 

The number of people reaching retirement age and the number of people currently working to pay those people’s benefits will affect the amount you receive in Social Security benefits as will such things as when you retire, how much you earned, and your marital status.   You may see a better or worse return in terms of getting back more or less than you contributed.  And your return may be better or worse than if you had created your own retirement plan.

Because it is owned and controlled by the government, Social Security is a form of socialism.  That does not make it a bad program.  There are many who might not have the income they do if not for social security.  But there are also many who might have done better if they had been left in control of their own retirement taxes, had them to use or invest wisely at the time they earned them rather than paying them to the government, and had the benefits of their own choices when they retired.

As an entitlement, like any other right granted from the government to the people, the government has the ability (if not the likelihood) to terminate that entitlement.  An entitlement is not a right that is owned by the people.  It is “owned” and controlled by the government. 

Like any other entitlement people learn to depend upon it.  They become in that piece of their lives dependent upon those in power rather than themselves.  Few actually think about this as they look forward to the certainty of their monthly payments.  Few think about how they might differently have spent their Social Security taxes had they not been required to give them to the government.  While now expecting the government to take care of them, few even realize that they might have had a choice instead.

The reality is that, much as we accept and perhaps like it, Social Security is a piece of socialism. For better or worse, we have relinquished a part of our freedom to government control.