Trump Presidency

[Irish#1]

I've only had limited exposure to some of the approval process for SSD. I've heard from two or three people that have had some direct experience and they said even if you don't have a very good case for disability, just keep applying, it will eventually get approved.

I can't speak to the disability part, but this part will make you ask for some type of reform. My wife applied for SS when she turned 65. I come home from work one day and she gives me the name and number of a guy from the SSA that just helped her get her benefits. Says he wants to talk to me. I call and the guy tells me I can collect half of my wife's monthly benefit. I tell the guy I don't want to do anything to affect her or my benefits. He tells me I can receive this every month until I start collecting mine with no adverse affect to either.

There is so much garbage written into the SS laws and regulations a massive reform is needed, but no one will touch it for fear of losing their seat.

 

[Irish#1]

At the end of the day it’s $$ in $$ out. Social security still has $2.9 TRILLION in asset reserves and it’s not like it’s going bankrupt tomorrow. But it peaked in 2020 and will now be on the decline as outlays exceed revenues.

In year 2000, there was more tax being paid into social security than paid out.

In year 2010, it was neutral.

Currently, its expenditure (5.2% of GDP) is more than revenue (4.6% of GDP). It’s a pyramid scheme *unless* you make structural changes. It will only get worse, projected by the CBO to reach 6%+ by the 2030s. By ~2035ish it’ll be out of money because of the large yearly deficit.

The main things being kicked around to make it “outlay vs revenue neutral” is to reduce how much benefits are paid out, which they expect to trigger in 2034. People born in the 50s/60s will mostly all still end up getting full initial benefits (as always, the Boomers “get theirs”) and see only a moderate reduction in lifetime benefits. Gen X and beyond are looking at 25%+ reduction in benefits.

Every single employed American would have been better off taking their social security taxes and sticking them in a 401k.

Except for holding this against Boomers, I don't disagree with any of this. With the Boomers hitting retirement, it's going to stress the system. I guess if we really want to blame someone, maybe we should blame the Greatest Generation. After all, they're the ones who came home from the war and started making babies. lol

 

[RDU Irish]

Just another thing to throw on the pile of reasons to support removing almost every government handout and replacing them all with a flat UBI.

I don't see how supporting old and disabled who theoretically cannot continue to support themselves with wages translates to nobody should have to work to cover their basic needs? I could get on board with a UBI for 18 and under as being just as necessary as basic level of support for those over 70 to replace piles of complicated and abused welfare programs. Let the school funding follow them where they choose while we are at it. Need those kids well fed and healthy so we can send them off to fight those wars.

 

[GATTACA!]

I don't see how supporting old and disabled who theoretically cannot continue to support themselves with wages translates to nobody should have to work to cover their basic needs? I could get on board with a UBI for 18 and under as being just as necessary as basic level of support for those over 70 to replace piles of complicated and abused welfare programs. Let the school funding follow them where they choose while we are at it. Need those kids well fed and healthy so we can send them off to fight those wars.

Any serious UBI proposal I've seen never proposes to give anyone enough money to live off of alone. At least not enough that any of us would want to use as our sole income. Yang's plan in 2020 was $1,000 per month.

 

[RDU Irish]

I can't speak to the disability part, but this part will make you ask for some type of reform. My wife applied for SS when she turned 65. I come home from work one day and she gives me the name and number of a guy from the SSA that just helped her get her benefits. Says he wants to talk to me. I call and the guy tells me I can collect half of my wife's monthly benefit. I tell the guy I don't want to do anything to affect her or my benefits. He tells me I can receive this every month until I start collecting mine with no adverse affect to either.

There is so much garbage written into the SS laws and regulations a massive reform is needed, but no one will touch it for fear of losing their seat.

Most SS offices are pretty good at getting the most benefit for the participants. Spousal benefits are not understood by many people and can be different depending on birth year as changes have moved a lot of goal posts depending on your FRA. You use to be able to "file and suspend" where one spouse doesn't actually start taking SS but files and suspends their application thus allowing the other spouse to activate their 1/2 spousal benefit.

From a planning standpoint, your move makes it so much easier to push yours out to age 70 for the maximum monthly amount. Then the higher of the two benefits is what the eventual surviving spouse receives. Lots of planning to do surrounding SS and annoying when people just want to activate ASAP.

 

[RDU Irish]

Any serious UBI proposal I've seen never proposes to give anyone enough money to live off of alone. At least not enough that any of us would want to use as our sole income. Yang's plan in 2020 was $1,000 per month.

$1k/month buys plenty of cheetos and XBox games. You are claiming a family of five can't live off of $60k/year which isn't far off the median household income of $75k/year. The combination of consumption increase and production decrease would make the current inflation wave look like a nothing.

 

[GATTACA!]

$1k/month buys plenty of cheetos and XBox games. You are claiming a family of five can't live off of $60k/year which isn't far off the median household income of $75k/year. The combination of consumption increase and production decrease would make the current inflation wave look like a nothing.

We’re talking about people that already aren’t working. Yes they could live off that. They’re living off less now. You just cut out the waste of determining their entitlements and remove the negative incentives the current system creates for those type of people to stay out of the workforce.

You or I wouldn’t quit our jobs for $1k per month though.

 

[tussin]

Every single employed American would have been better off taking their social security taxes and sticking them in a 401k.

SSA is big government at its worst, ill-conceived and ineffective. If the federal government really wants to big-brother fiscal responsibility, a better solution would be mandatory privatized social security (i.e. the same "taxes" but the accounts are segregated for each individual).

 

[calvegas04]

What a tool

 

[Sea Turtle]

What a tool

Who are these senior Trump advisors and why would they be there?

 

[ulukinatme]

Project 25 is the 2024 Russian Collusion misdirection. Just saw that Biden's team put up a website called Trump's Project 25.

 

[Bishop2b5]

Who are these senior Trump advisors and why would they be there?

That's what I wondered too. It's very unlikely any of Trump's senior advisors would be at a NATO summit before the election.

 

[ulukinatme]

That's what I wondered too. It's very unlikely any of Trump's senior advisors would be at a NATO summit before the election.

An anonymous source said the advisors called all the NATO allies suckers and losers.

 

[ab2cmiller]

That's what I wondered too. It's very unlikely any of Trump's senior advisors would be at a NATO summit before the election.

Sounds like it's certainly NOT anything that is part of the official NATO meetings. It sounds like various foreign officials that are in town for the NATO meetings are nervous about what Trump would do related to various topics. Those foreign officials reached out to Trump foreign policy advisers to request a meeting to gather as much information as they can.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-foreign-policy-adviser-meets-with-european-officials-attending-nato-summit-2024-07-09/

 

[calvegas04]

Who are these senior Trump advisors and why would they be there?

It's normal for the other party running for president to be updated/included on foreign policies and what is going on.

 

[Irish#1]

It's normal for the other party running for president to be updated/included on foreign policies and what is going on.

Doesn't that typically begin right after the election if the incumbent lost?

 

[Irish#1]

What a tool

Tweet and pic are misleading. When was that pic taken? When he was POTUS? Trump was in Florida on July 9. I suppose he could have flown up after, but he didn't speak until 7:00PM. This from Politico indicates some of Trumps advisors met individually with some NATO members, but they weren't part of the summit. Hungary's president is flying to Florida today to met with Trump.

Officials from NATO countries are enjoying an extra perk of this year’s summit in Washington: easier access to members of Donald Trump’s inner circle.

They have fanned out around town to meet with Trump confidants and get a sense of the Republican’s thinking. They’ve sat for breakfasts and dinners with Richard Grenell, who is often talked about as a potential secretary of State pick. And they’ve held meetings with former top national security advisers including retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg or John Bolton, about European security.

“Everyone keeps asking us if we’re meeting with Trump people,” said an exhausted senior European diplomat, one of seven European, NATO and former U.S. officials who were granted anonymity to speak candidly about a potential new administration. “The answer is ‘Of course we are.’ We all are. We’ve been doing it for years. But the proximity this week is helpful.”

 

[ab2cmiller]

Tweet and pic are misleading. When was that pic taken? When he was POTUS? Trump was in Florida on July 9. I suppose he could have flown up after, but he didn't speak until 7:00PM. This from Politico indicates some of Trumps advisors met individually with some NATO members, but they weren't part of the summit. Hungary's president is flying to Florida today to met with Trump.

Image is from 2018. Obviously the Pic is misleading because it differs from the headline and may give a person the impression that Trump attended.

The headline itself seems to be a bit misleading as it implies that Trump advisors attended NATO meetings. The article would seem to indicate that they did not. They participated in unofficial meetings with a few other countries at the other countries requests.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

LOL

 

[ulukinatme]

LOL

We've been backsliding ever since the Dept of Education was created during the Carter administration. I don't have the data from the 80s and 90s, but in 2000 we ranked 15th in the world in Math and Reading using PISA's data. This was down from where we previously were. Today we're between 30th-40th in Math and Reading in the world. I think there's a combination of social issues that have contributed to that (Some of which has been parents siding with kids over the teachers), but the data doesn't show that the Dept has improved anything.

 

[Bluto]

We've been backsliding ever since the Dept of Education was created during the Carter administration. I don't have the data from the 80s and 90s, but in 2000 we ranked 15th in the world in Math and Reading using PISA's data. This was down from where we previously were. Today we're between 30th-40th in Math and Reading in the world. I think there's a combination of social issues that have contributed to that (Some of which has been parents siding with kids over the teachers), but the data doesn't show that the Dept has improved anything.

Or we pay teachers like shit among other things.

 

[Bluto]

Giuliani is fucked. Lol.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

Or we pay teachers like shit among other things.

No, not all. The well to do school districts in PA are now starting first year teachers at $65k-$70k. Teachers in Finland and Singapore aren't getting paid big money either but those kids are top ten in math, science and reading every year.

Second, the federal government has nothing to do with teacher salaries. It's up to each school district and it's a state issue. The federal DOE shouldn't even be a thing.

 

[Bishop2b5]

Or we pay teachers like shit among other things.

They weren't paid better in the past when students were performing at a much higher level.

 

[Bluto]

They weren't paid better in the past when students were performing at a much higher level.

Lol. Yeah. That's relative. Tell that to teachers in markets like Jackson Hole, San Francisco, Miami and what not.

 

[Bluto]

No, not all. The well to do school districts in PA are now starting first year teachers at $65k-$70k. Teachers in Finland and Singapore aren't getting paid big money either but those kids are top ten in math, science and reading every year.

Second, the federal government has nothing to do with teacher salaries. It's up to each school district and it's a state issue. The federal DOE shouldn't even be a thing.

Of course the Fed has “something to do”. They provide funding for construction of capital projects, free meals, housing and a bunch of other shit that is related to kids being able to function and develop in a healthy manner.

As to Finland, they provide a shit ton of government subsidies for health care, parental leave and all kinds of other shit that is integral to not producing anti social assholes. The kids in Finland that go to those schools receive a shit ton of federally subsidized benefits from the jump.

Amazing to think that a society that invests heavily in its citizens produces good citizens. What a crazy ass concept!

I’m thinking all this disillusionment is more an indictment of the capitalist model we pursue in the US more than anything else.

 

[calvegas04]

They weren't paid better in the past when students were performing at a much higher level.

Back in the 80's and 90's where one parent could support a family of 4 on one full time job?

 

[Bishop2b5]

Teacher pay was about the same then as now, relative to COL. If you think it's much lower now, then how does that negatively affect student performance? The only ways I can think of would be the lower pay would attract less qualified teachers, or produce less motivated teachers who don't put much effort into helping their students. I don't really see either being the case, so the problem is probably elsewhere.

 

[calvegas04]

Teacher pay was about the same then as now, relative to COL. If you think it's much lower now, then how does that negatively affect student performance? The only ways I can think of would be the lower pay would attract less qualified teachers, or produce less motivated teachers who don't put much effort into helping their students. I don't really see either being the case, so the problem is probably elsewhere.

There is less qualified teachers being hired due to the lack of pay. A lot of the great teachers will move on to somewhere with more pay and they don't have to deal with the current generation and their lack of respect/attention spans. It is just a terrible time to be a teacher. And COL was much lower in the 80's 90's compared to what they are being paid now. I remember my dad telling me about all the new cars he would buy while being a box boy at the local market.

 

[GATTACA!]

There is less qualified teachers being hired due to the lack of pay. A lot of the great teachers will move on to somewhere with more pay and they don't have to deal with the current generation and their lack of respect/attention spans. It is just a terrible time to be a teacher. And COL was much lower in the 80's 90's compared to what they are being paid now. I remember my dad telling me about all the new cars he would buy while being a box boy at the local market.

Right lol. My grandfather raised 7 kids on his salary as a teacher and they had a vacation home too. The idea that teachers are making relatively the same is insane.