Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Social Insurance Obligations, Not Entitlements

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So now Senator McConnell, as easily predicted, blames the deficit not on the mad tax cut for millionaires, but instead on Social Security and Medicare – utter cynicism. http://https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-16/mcconnell-blames-entitlements-not-gop-for-rising-deficits

We can all agree on that as Democrats. But can we finally all agree to stop using the term “entitlements”?

SOCIAL INSURANCE OBLIGATIONS

Social Security and Medicare are not ‘entitlements’. They are social insurance obligations. People are entitled to them because to one extent or another they have PAID FOR THEM. The government is obligated to pay them as part of a social contract.

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  1. I have paid into Social Security and Medicare for 50 years. Along with a small pension and Obamacare it’s keeping me alive.

  2. I’ve never understood the objection to the term entitlements. Since we have paid into them, I would say yes, we are absolutely ENTITLED to receive their benefits.

    • Another of the big lies the GOP has promoted for decades is that “entitlement” programs are “liberal giveaways” to “welfare cheats”.

      The technical origin of the term results from the language of legislation that creates the programs in question — an “entitlement program” is a program, like social security, whose expenditures are established by law and not subject to annual appropriations.

      The programs themselves are real and vital. The lie — and it has always exemplified GOP contempt for the truth — is that entitlement programs primarily benefit minorities.

      The largest entitlement program, by annual dollar amount, is Social Security. The next is Medicare. Unemployment is an entitlement program, as are the benefits that are part of the safety net.

      Even before the GOP slashed safety net benefits, the recipients of those benefits were overwhelmingly white. While the right wing was shouting the loudest about “welfare cheats”, the entitlement programs were actually biased AGAINST minorities when examined on the basis of share of benefits eligible versus benefits received. A significantly higher share of eligible whites received welfare benefits during those years than of eligible blacks. US government programs, even those that allegedly benefit minorities, have ALWAYS been biased towards whites.

      Social Security is far and away the largest government program, and is an entitlement program (Social Security expenditures are not managed by congress). There is a very real issue with Social Security funding in the vicinity of 2025-2040. Current projections suggest that the Social Security trust fund will be exhausted in 2036,

      There are two straightforward approaches to managing this issue:

      1. Remove the current earnings cap on Social Security withholding. Social Security is a regressive tax, because of the cap on Social Security earnings. Those who earn more than the cap pay no Social Security at all on their extra income. Removing this arbitrary and regressive cap is one straightforward way to stabilize long-term Social Security funding.

      2. Increase the retirement age. Americans live longer. Increasing the retirement age to reflect this reality is a second way to stabilize long-term Social Security funding.

      Some mix of these two approaches is an easy and straightforward way to solve the funding issues.

      The GOP, instead, seeks to destroy Social Security altogether, using various lies and deceits such as “privatization”.

  3. We can all agree on that as Democrats. But can we finally all agree to stop using the term “entitlements”?

    Why would we want to do that?

    It strikes me as a mugs game to, first, accept the corruption of the language and, secondly, act as though some other verbiage is incorruptible. Good luck with trying to stay one step ahead of Republican perfidy, calumny and dissembling…

    I’m so very tired of amoral political operatives who think politics is just a game of feint and counter-feint. Such as they aren’t interested in helping people… They are as willing to corrupt the language in service to winning and are just angry that the other side is so much better at being amoral . Such as they only want to find the emotionally satisfying counter punch that hurts the other sides game… rather than actually solve a problem.

    The Democrats are the majority. Hillary Clinton got sixty five million votes and then some. The Democrats have won the popular vote in at least six of the last seven Presidential elections. The Republican majorities in the House can only be explained by gerrymandering. The numerical majority of Republicans in the Senate in truth represents only a minority of Amercans…

    All of this to say two things:

    A) The Republicans got to where they are by lying and cheating and gaming the system.

    2) It is a situation that cannot continue.

    Why, then, do you insist on acting like it’s a game between equals?

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