April 19, 2007
How to Host a Social Security Bake Sale
By the way, while we’re on the subject of the URI College Republicans, I’d like to propose a new format for the Social Security Bake Sale that they hold as part of “Coming Out Conservative” week. Social Security Bake Sales are supposed to point out the unfairness of exsting social security system by requiring underclassmen (representing young people) more for the same goods than upperclassmen (representing old people).
Let me suggest this slightly more complex, but more accurate, Social Security simulation…
- Seniors will be charged $1.00 for a baked good. They get to pick up their purchase immediately.
- Juniors will be charged $1.50 a baked good that is the same size as a senior baked good, but have to wait until one hour after paying before picking it up.
- Sophmores will be charged $2.00 for a baked good that is half the size of a Senior/Junior baked good, and be required to wait two hours before picking it up.
- Freshmen will pay $3.00 for their baked good. They have to wait three hours after paying before picking up their purchase. Except that if the Seniors/Juniors/Sophmores have already bought out the entire supply by the time the waiting period has ended, a freshman gets nothing. And of course, there are no refunds.
There was a U.S. Supreme Court case from the early 1960's - Flemming V. Nestor - which heldt hat Social Security contributions are in fact just another tax, and that US citizens have NO property right to Social Security benefits.
The case held Congress had the inherent power to reduce (or eliminate?) Social Security benefits at any time, notwithstanding the fact that individuals may have paid FICA taxes for a lifetime.
This is still the law of the land, which raises some interesting questions for Democrats who claim to want to protect the Social Security benefits of seniors: why haven't they done anything to protect benefits by giving us a property right to them, e.g., their vehement opposition to so-called "private accounts"?
This also raises some interesting questions when one considers that the RI General Assembly appears to adopt the public sector unions' refrain that pension benefits can only be cut for new hires, that once one is employed as a teacher or state employee the benefits in effect on that first day can only be raised, but never lowered.
In other words, this is another example of the gross disparity between benefits of private-sector workers and those employed in the private sector financed public sector.
If you had the political will, the General Assembly could freeze the state pension benefits today - no one would be deprived of benefits to which they were already vested, but henceforth teachers and state employees could join the real world (like the rest of us) and participate in a 401(k)-type plan.
In turn, this would greatly alleviate (if not eliminate) Rhode Island's $4-5 BILLION unfunded pension liability, though worst per capita in the entire country!
Posted by: Tom W at April 19, 2007 5:59 PMIs the Bake Sale for White Heterosexual
Males only?
If so I will have 2 CupCakes
Posted by: jake at April 21, 2007 9:39 PM