Current welfare system ruining our economy

I believe ALL income and expenditures are processed using the Trust Fund bonds...this is done to have a precise accounting of what comes in and what goes out...

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Can you point to a single fact that shows anyone is going to get screwed??

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This simply is not true?? Anyone reaching retirement ages, with income history, can activate their SS payments in a matter of minutes...

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Yeah...right...people in the USA earning $75K have a horrible life...

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If only a single thing above was true...

 

Someone who is 56 with slipped discs in their back cannot snap their fingers and start drawing social security.

 

Is this thread about our welfare system? If so let's drop Social Security and Medicare as they have their own funding mechanism and currently are still solvent.

 

Most people on SSI did work we just didn't earn enough credits to go for SSDI they check for both when you apply for benefits and if you were born disabled then they can also put you on your parents benefits in SSDI also, I was to old to have said records by the time I applied, so we are not losers. I was born with disability, have cognitive disabilities that showed up and I did manage to graduate High School and worked when I could get work on and off the books. I struggled living with my family until I got to sickly to work then applied for help. I'm not ashamed of getting help I never broke the law and did everything asked of me its not my fault I'm disabled. I'm like a lot of people who can't make it on our own in society. Sometimes citizens need government help and I don't like cheaters and find them horrible since it hurts people like me who get help and need it. So the question is who should get them long term and do we need more help, and for those who do abuse the system how to stigmatize it again so its not preferable to be on benefits long term. And jobs and economic rebuilding to make jobs that are good jobs available to more people.

An example my uncle got benefits when he went on strike with his union in Wisconsin and got at that time a large amount enough so he had to buy canned goods and the like to use them up and they ate better than he worked, but he was ashamed to use them at his local grocery store so went miles away to shop, even though no one would consider him a bum, it was a long strike. But that program made him uncomfortable. He got why disabled people got them one blind man he knew got them, that he got, he was on government aid being unable to work however that was not for responsible people who were able bodied.

 

It's all common sense,nothing even remotely difficult about it - just close the loopholes and the tax shelters. This brings back all that capital and the economy is recharged.




http://usuncut.com/class-war/27-corporations-paid-no-taxes-in-2015/


Just as average Americans are preparing to pay their taxes for next month’s deadline, it’s now been revealed once again that some of the country’s richest and most profitable corporations paid $0 in taxes last year, and many are even getting massive refunds.

USA Today assembled a list of 27 multinational corporations that posted between $56 million and $4.6 billion in profits in 2015, yet got money back from the government rather than paying federal taxes. Some of these corporations are household names, and they represent multiple industries ranging from media, to technology, to healthcare, to transportation.

Many of these negative tax bills are due to accounting loopholes that allow profitable global giants, like American Airlines, to write off losses amounting to billions of dollars. Even though American Airlines owed $1.5 billion in federal taxes, the company successfully wrote off $4.7 billion in losses, amounting to a $3.2 billion refund from Uncle Sam. When adding up the refunds, these 27 companies — a mere snapshot of a much larger, systemic issue in the tax code — are responsible for over $11 billion in tax revenue that would have otherwise gone to public services:



This itself is a small window into the culture of corporate tax avoidance, as over $2.1 trillion in corporate profits is stashed in overseas tax havens. The way the U.S. tax system is set up, companies that book their profits in tax-free territories like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands can pay 0 percent tax rates on those profits as long as the money remains there.

Some of the most well-known corporations famously avoid U.S. taxes by booking profits overseas, like Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, Qualcomm, JPMorgan & Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs. As bad as this is, top U.S. officials are contemplating a proposal that would further deplete the U.S. Treasury of badly needed tax revenue.

President Obama himself proposed lowering the American corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 14 percent for any company that decides to “repatriate,” or bring home, any of the profits stashed overseas. Our current Congress obliged by introducing bills to do just that. Were all of the companies who store money this way to take advantage of such a proposal, it would amount to approximately $400 billion in lost revenue. That money could fund roughly 7 years of tuition-free public college across the country.

However, President George W. Bush tried this in 2005 and it failed miserably. As The Guardian reported last year, a slew of multinational corporations took advantage of Bush’s plan to grant a one-time tax holiday to corporate tax avoiders, when he temporarily lowered the rate from 35 percent to 5 percent. But rather than fulfilling their roles as “job creators” after the windfall, these companies ended up using the repatriated cash to buy back its stock, which enriches the stock options owned by executives, while simultaneously firing workers:

Allan Sloan at the Washington Post reported that Ford Motor Company, which lobbied for the legislation, announced 30,000 additional job cuts after saving anywhere between $250m (Ford’s estimate) and $850m (Sloan’s estimate) in federal taxes. A 2005 New York Times editorial chided Hewlett Packard’s decision to fire 14,500 workers (a decision made by current presidential candidate Carly Fiorina) while repatriating $14.5bn in overseas profits.

While this is a widespread problem, there is a solution: Senator Bernie Sanders is campaigning on a promise to create 13 million new jobs by investing $1 trillion in rebuilding American infrastructure. He would fund this by closing the corporate tax loopholes that allow multinationals to stash an estimated $100 billion in overseas tax havens every year, amounting to $1 trillion in savings over a decade.

Jobs or corporate tax cuts? The choice is up to voters.

 

So obviously you don't make $75k yet you are an expert lol, and the exact reason you won't make $75k. You refuse to open your mind past your own existence as if everyone see's and lives the life you do.

 

Why can't you just answer my comments?

Your personal attacks/comments are meaningless to me...I think you just like to whine and pound your chest...

 

Our welfare problem cannot be addressed until we solve the problem of jobs.

 

If lots of Americans don't have the will to work, don't feel pride in working, or are severely limited in terms of education/skills...what can a nation do to change this...

 

You don't get it do you. When you have so many people applying for the same job, obviously there is not enough jobs to go around.

 

Supply and demand, more people than we need.

 

Yet Obama won't do anything to close the borders and millions of illegals flood in taking jobs, yet you defend him because... well, he's Obama! He "says" he is here to help the poor.

I'd say Obama supporters caused their own problem on this one. Don't worry, he'll be just fine though, the people, well that's another story.

 

So true, the borders were certainly well controlled before Obama who let all them illegals in so they could vote Democratic. That is a joke by the way, just can't resist making fun of of the clueless on this forum.

 

Guarantee everyone housing, medical care, education including continuing education (K-12 plus employment skills) and a job unless someone is unable to work at all.

 

Actually, the current welfare system is a major, if not 'THE MAJOR' contributor to our economic growth, not to mention government debt.

 

but.. but... but Democrats say UE is down. Oh yes, that's said hoping that people will look past their own circumstances and believe him... i.e... prop up Obama to the naive who voted for him.

 

You got to be kidding lol. How is taking money from people who earned it and subsidizing people who didn't a contributor to economic growth? It maybe growth of Burtha's butt but not the economy.

 

Sadly I am not. Think about it, economic growth does not take into account who earned the money being spent nor does it require increased productivity, but simply indicates an increase in spending. While production could actually decrease, if prices rose and a decreased consumption resulted in more being spent it would still be economic growth.

 

wow, according to your thinking, we can all go on welfare to improve the economy ... Lets ALL quit our jobs!!!, close up shops and go on welfare.

I'm freeeee! Government will support me and I'll contribute to and improve the economy at the same time I'm freeeee!

See how silly your thinking is?

 

Except your response has nothing at all to do with my thinking.

I've not claimed that welfare spending IMPROVES the economy, although it does greatly increase the amount being spent in our economy.

Those who are actually earning the money as a result of producing the goods and services being consumed are net contributors to economic growth. Government, elected politicians as well as many unelected government agency employees unlike private charity benefit from the many welfare programs they've created, which in the end only results in shrinking the middle class and increasing the dependency of a growing number of the population on government.

"Actually, the current welfare system is a major, if not 'THE MAJOR' contributor to our economic growth, not to mention government debt."
Note: Growth does not necessarily indicate improvement.

Please, in the future, read my posts more carefully.

 

Money to fund government welfare comes from deficit spending or tax revenues. If it's tax revenues, then we're just redistributing the money from those who can afford taxation to those who cannot...my issue here is if I give the government one of my dollars does the government give someone needy one dollar or something much less...like $.50?

If it comes from deficit spending, we are devaluing the dollar, plus paying interest on the debt, further burdening future budgets.

Would the government/taxpayers be better off spending money building affordable rent housing versus handing out cash that will be spent at Walmart?

We have always had some percentage of Americans who are needy. Let's say it is 10%, so ten years ago 10% of 200 million Americans was 20 million on welfare. Today it is 10% of 320 million Americans so 32 million are on welfare. Obviously as population continues to increase the quantity of Americans on welfare will increase.

Further, in 2016 adjusted dollars, let's say ten years ago per capita welfare was $2000 per year while today it is $10,000 per year. This means not only does population growth exacerbate welfare costs, but each year the cost of welfare per person also increases...a double whammy!

Lastly, most people on welfare are just scraping by. There is no possible way to expect or force all of them to earn a living. I've suggested that people on welfare should at least consider volunteering their time to be productive but even this is impossible. Yes there are a few people who cheat the system but this is mouse nuts in the grand scheme of welfare funding. I would prefer to see government housing built across the nation to provide much needed affordable housing. I would prefer that the US produce more food to the point of having surplus food. I would prefer we had affordable and effective public transportation. But no matter all of these preferences, the US will continue to spend billion$ on welfare programs...

 

How about not robbing productive working people according to how much they produce and then giving the money to rich, greedy takers in return for nothing? That might be a start.

 

Isn't that basically what government is doing now?

The 'rich, greedy takers' are paying the most taxes in terms of dollars and considering that government is spending about $12,000 per person each year very few tax payers are paying what should really be seen as a 'fair share' and are therefore willing for government to spend even more thinking that increasing taxes on the rich will diminish their wealth while increasing their own, or even willing to diminish their own income/wealth thinking the same results are being applied to the rich.

 

Obviously you cannot quantify this? You cannot prove your statement?

 

Let's look at reality here and dispel some myths as we go along.

The most costly items in the federal budget is Socialist Security. Now, contrary to the posters misinformation, so called "illegal aliens" are ineligible to receive Social Security payments though the Chief Actuary of the Socialist Security Administration estimates that undocumented foreigners pay $12 BILLION DOLLARS a year into that system.

http://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/policy-basics-where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go

https://news.vice.com/article/unaut...billion-into-social-security-over-last-decade

If you remember the last presidential election, Romney lost when he attacked the 47 percent of Americans (at that time) who were dependent on the government for some part of their daily bread. It's WHY you have more Ds than Rs showing up at the polls. My feeling is that IF undocumented foreigners are stealing "our" jobs, then the jobs do not belong to the employer, but to society as a whole.

That being the case, we should find out why some people don't get a job. The endless background checks for people doing menial work hampers a lot of society. If you give a man a helping hand, but don't insure that he has a sporting chance at a job, you've wasted your money. WHY are some people not getting jobs?

Earlier in life, some folks did drugs. Some have minor convictions that are irrelevant to most jobs. The elderly are at a disadvantage; nobody hires them. Being white means that you will be the LAST candidate considered. How would I fix it?

A person signs up for welfare. They should be assigned a counselor. If that individual don't have an education, they are enrolled in a GED class - no schooling no help. They would show up for classes to get their GED and then on to training in how to find a job. When they are denied a job, the government could make random inquiries into why an applicant was not selected. If you don't like discrimination in the workplace, these random inquiries would tell you why.

If a person has addictions, they would be tracked to make sure they are looking for a job, not looking for a fix. The reality is, the people must tell the courts (contrary to current law) that welfare is a privilege of citizenship, NOT a right and NOT a lifestyle. If you want people off welfare, you have to get to the root of the problem.

Some people don't want to work. They go to the doctor and complain of anxiety, suicidal or homicidal thoughts. The doctor writes out prescriptions for SSRIs and the next thing you know, this person is addicted to psychotropic drugs. living off disability payments and laughing at the rest of you. You're paying for their lifestyle while using undocumented foreigners as scapegoats in order to avoid the ugly truth: most people don't want to work. No employer will hire them because there are so many foreigners WILLING to work.

Cutting people off of welfare without a plan to put them back to work only means that they will end up in hospitals or prisons, draining your wallet. You make people accomplish things and they will get off welfare because it will be easier to work a job than to be in a program demanding that you look for work, get an education, and learn basic life skills.