[nfb-talk] Alright, from another passionate liberal.RE: nfb-talk Digest, Vol 55, Issue 62

Thu Dec 27 21:40:17 UTC 2012

Unfortunately, we have to talk about SSI, SSDI, and DHS.  I would like to be 
saying, JOB!!!!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Todor Fassl" <fassl.tod at gmail.com>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2012 2:42 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Alright,from another passionate liberal.RE: nfb-talk 
Digest, Vol 55,Issue 62


> Well, you're right. SSI usually means "Supplimental Security Income". But 
> it is also used to mean "Social Security Income".  I was indeed using the 
> less common meaning which is confusing.
>
> You're also right about the source for Supplimental Security Income, 
> "Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a Federal income supplement program 
> funded by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes."
>
> http://www.ssa.gov/ssi/
>
> According to  the AARP web site, Supplimental Security Income payments are 
> not effected by the fiscal cliff:
>
> http://blog.aarp.org/2012/12/21/over-the-fiscal-cliff-what-you-need-to-know-right-now/
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mark Tardif" <markspark at roadrunner.com>
> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2012 1:23 PM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Alright,from another passionate liberal.RE: 
> nfb-talk Digest, Vol 55,Issue 62
>
>
>> Please, let me just give you a friendly correction here.  You keep 
>> talking about an SSI crisis.  I think you mean regular Social Security 
>> benefits, or even SSDI, (Social Security Disability Insurance), very 
>> different animals from SSI, (Supplemental Security Income.  SSI is a 
>> program designed to help those who are disabled or blind, but it is 
>> income-based, not based on you putting anything into the system through 
>> years of employment.  In other words, you don't have to have worked in 
>> order to receive SSI.  It is, however, much more directly tied to any 
>> other income you may be receiving. And whild the Social Security 
>> Administration administers SSI, my understanding is that the money 
>> actually comes out of the general treasury, not out of the Social 
>> Security trust fund.  People get those programs confused, but I think if 
>> we are going to discuss them, it is important that we know which programs 
>> we are talking about.  Just a friendly suggestion.
>>
>> Mark Tardif
>> Nuclear arms will not hold you.
>> -----Original Message----- 
>> From: Todor Fassl
>> Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2012 1:51 PM
>> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Alright,from another passionate liberal.RE: 
>> nfb-talk Digest, Vol 55,Issue 62
>>
>> In my opinion, when someone says something that is totally untrue, even 
>> in
>> passing, it is important to set the record straight. I don't really want 
>> to
>> argue about Fox News but I don't think we should just let it slide that 
>> some
>> people think Fox News is the equivalent of CNN. It's just not.
>>
>> Anyway, lets talk about SSI and the national debt.
>>
>> Did you know that the federal government actually comes out ahead on the
>> money it borrows right now? The interest rate the government pays is less
>> than the rate of inflation. You could argue that it encourages the
>> government to just keep on borrowing but what it proves is that there is 
>> no
>> debt crisis. If bankers were worried about the national debt, they 
>> wouldn't
>> be so anxious to loan money to the government. The only serious issue 
>> right
>> now is that in 20 to 30 years, there will be less money collected from
>> workers than what is needed to pay for SSI benefits for the retirees and 
>> the
>> disabled.
>>
>> But that is not a crisis. First of all, that's a long way off. Secondly, 
>> its
>> a temporary problem caused by the "baby boom" right after WWII. Fifty to
>> sixty years from now, the ratio of recipients to payers goes back to a
>> manageable level.  And lastly, even the temporary problem can be managed 
>> by
>> doing things like raising the retirement age and putting a cap on the 
>> income
>> you can receive and still get benefits. It's silly for Warren Buffet to 
>> be
>> receiving SSI checks.
>>
>> One thing we should not do is raise payroll taxes to buff up the Social
>> Security Trust Fund.  There really is no such thing. The reason is that 
>> if
>> we collect money today, where are we going to put it? You want to put 
>> that
>> money in the safest possible place, right? Wyou know what that is? 
>> T-Bills.
>> In other words, buy some of the national debt. So then we end up taxing
>> people to borrow money from ourselves -- which is stupid. As much as I
>> admire Daniel Patrick Moynahan, that was a dumb idea he came up with 
>> years
>> ago. If hhe were here today, he'd probably argue that he didn't expect 
>> the
>> government just to spend the money but what else can they do?  Maybe we
>> should have bought Canada with the money. I'll bet we could get a good 
>> price
>> for it today.
>>
>> Anyway, there really is no SSI crisis.  The impending problem is really
>> fairly minor. And eventually, Social Security will reach an equlibrium
>> between payments and benefits. As our population continues to age, there
>> will always be a problem with the ratio of payers to recipients. But 
>> we'll
>> just have to keep raising the retirement age. And after all, that only 
>> makes
>> sense because the problem is caused by people living longer and longer.
>> Essentially, all we have to do is keep the average number of years that
>> people receive benefits constant.
>>
>> From: "Ray Foret Jr" <rforetjr at att.net>
>> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2012 12:07 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Alright,from another passionate liberal.RE: 
>> nfb-talk
>> Digest, Vol 55,Issue 62
>>
>>
>>> Totally agree here.  Many thanks Mike.
>>>
>>>
>>> Sincerely,
>>> The Constantly Barefooted Ray
>>> Still a very proud and happy Mac and Iphone user!
>>>
>>> On Dec 27, 2012, at 12:01 PM, Mike Freeman <k7uij at panix.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> You're not getting it: there are those who consider CBS News and the NY 
>>>> Times as propaganda organs also and all the more shameful for not 
>>>> admitting it. Since we discuss our common connection, blindness, here 
>>>> and are loath to pay for a debating society here, especially when such 
>>>> debates do little more than generate controversy and division, it's 
>>>> better to keep to blindness.
>>>>
>>>> Mike Freeman
>>>> sent from my iPhone
>>>>
>>>> On Dec 27, 2012, at 9:41, "Todor Fassl" <fassl.tod at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Well, I mainly just want to nake the distinction between Fox News and 
>>>>> other news sources clear.  It's up to the reader to decide the 
>>>>> significance. It's not a matter of opinion that Fox News is trying to 
>>>>> persuade people to vote conservative. They say so themselves 
>>>>> practically every day. By definition, that makes them a propoganda 
>>>>> outlet, not a news source.
>>>>>
>>>>> There may be value in reading "The Daily Worker" from the Communist 
>>>>> Party. You may learn things you wouldn't have learned otherwise. Never 
>>>>> the less, it's propoganda. So is Fox News.
>>>>>
>>>>> You may learn something from listening to Fox News. And I can't tell 
>>>>> people not to listen to them. That's really none of my business.  But 
>>>>> the fact is that Fox News is absolutely, positively, definately not 
>>>>> the conservative equivalent of CNN or NPR or CBS or the New York 
>>>>> Times.
>>>>>
>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Jacobson" 
>>>>> <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
>>>>> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>>>> Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2012 11:18 AM
>>>>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Alright,from another passionate liberal.RE: 
>>>>> nfb-talk Digest, Vol 55,Issue 62
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> This is exactly why we have to be careful what we discuss here.  Your 
>>>>>> comments here are not going to be seen as fact by everyone, and 
>>>>>> inevitably
>>>>>> someone is going to challenge them and sooner or later things get 
>>>>>> heated. That's not how it should be, but it is how it is on lists. 
>>>>>> It is as firm a rule as the
>>>>>> law of gravity.  .  While I don't trust any news source that feels 
>>>>>> they have to tell me that they are fair and balanced, I think that 
>>>>>> one has to realize that there
>>>>>> are cases when any news source is not going to be objective.  I could 
>>>>>> say more about Fox and MSNBC, but it won't help us address the issues 
>>>>>> that face
>>>>>> us as blind people.  Each of us has to make decisions about what we 
>>>>>> support in general, but it is important that we can learn here how 
>>>>>> various options
>>>>>> affect us as blind people so we can act accordingly, and that means 
>>>>>> we have to get along well enough to be able to share information.
>>>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
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>>
>>
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>>
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