[nfb-talk] blind and wanting to improve things, not get labeled

John G. Heim jheim at math.wisc.edu
Fri Apr 23 14:41:58 UTC 2010


 Well, you must have been asking the wrong people then because the answer is 
quite simple. Its because the government has the money.

A program like SSI could never succeed on a voluntary basis. The numbers 
just don't work out. Heck, as you are probably aware, the numbers are kind 
of questionable even with the contributions being mandatory. SSI is going to 
have a problem in a few years because there will be too many recipients per 
contributor. That problem would be much, much worse if SSI contributions 
weren't mandatory.

Personally, I'm not too worried about the SSI trust fund running out of 
money. Some changes will have to be made but they're not really particularly 
tough choices. The only reason we don't do them today is that senior 
citizens have too much political clout in the USA. But eventually, we'll 
have to face reality and raise the age of eligibility and put a means test 
on SSI.

Anyway, if you're looking for an answer to the question of why SSI has to be 
a government program, there it is. Its because only the government can pass 
a law requiring people to contribute.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "RyanO" <ryano218 at comcast.net>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 11:43 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] blind and wanting to improve things, not get labeled


> Chuck, I don't know you of course, but based on your comments, I'm tempted 
> to think that you don't receive social security or Medicare benefits. I 
> and many of my friends can relate horror story after horror story 
> involving the bureaucracy and ineptness of various government programs. 
> I've asked many liberals in amicable debates why they believe that the 
> government is better able to provide assistance than the private sector. I 
> ask on a historical, efficiency and motivational basis. At the end of the 
> arguments, though many platitudes come across, I've never received a solid 
> answer.
>
>
> RyanO
>
>
>
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