I was completing an on-line continuing education course yesterday for my insurance license, and one of the topics was the Social Security System. Easy enough stuff, but it did spur a thought on my part:
If "Obamacare" is illegal because the Federal Government has no authority to mandate the purchase of health insurance, wouldn't the mandatory contributions into the Social Security System also be illegal?
How is one different than the other? It gets better actually:
Social Security is technically an insurance program in that the amounts paid into the system are not returned to the individual taxpayer like an investment program, but instead go into a fund that, for all intensive purposes, simply provides something that looks like an annuity at retirement
In essence, your Social Security payroll taxes are actually insurance premiums.
I'll be waiting for all those opposed to Heath Care Reform to now come out against the unconstitutional mandate known as Social Security.
3 comments:
Steve,
1) If you are in insurance- does that mean you are on my side? Like a good neighbor you will be there?
2) On a more serious note- I had this exact debate with my Father who said the exact same thing you did. My reply? Social Security is just as unconstitutional as mandatory health insurance.
My Father's reply? Appeal to emotion. "So you want all the old people out on the street? Is that what you want?"
Of course that is NOT what I want, and I do NOT advocate getting rid of Social Security. Let's wade through the emotion for a minute and be reasonable.
All I was saying is that all things being equal no one has proven that social security IS constitutional, therefore to say we can have mandatory government health care becasue we have social security is falacious reasoning.
I think those who advocate government healthcare also forget that money is only part of the problem. The other large part of the problem is that whenever something is given for free, a shortage is created. In this case-where are all the doctors and nurses going to come from to care for all these people who now have free health care? There are some doctors already who are no longer taking medicade and medicare.
Finally Steve, who is going to pay for all this? You, me, and Joe taxpayer. Where are you, me, and Joe taxpayer going to get the money? That means less money in our pockets, therefore less money to spend on goods and services, which means more economic slowdown.
Steve, I want everyone to have health care, housing, food, shelter, clothing, etc. But Government is NOT the answer. We should certainly work so that everyone has their basic needs met, this is a gospel mandate, but that is not the job of the government.
Father Dave Bechtel
Father Bechtel...
1) I'm on your side unless I am standing next to you & I'm only a good neighbor if you live in Scranton. However I may have a piece of a rock laying around.
2) I actually respect your opinion on this, as my point is that it's hypocritical to shill against "government mandated insurance" when that is, in fact, what Social Security actually is in the first place. Now how many Republican politicians that you know of who, while shilling against "Job killing Obamacare" are also advocating for the repeal of Social Security? Hypocrisy, thy name is politician.
Next...You said..."All I was saying is that all things being equal no one has proven that social security IS constitutional, therefore to say we can have mandatory government health care becasue we have social security is falacious reasoning."
Now I'm not saying one is constitutional because the other is...I'm saying that it seems illogical to fight so stridently against the one, but yet ignore the fact that the same basic premise is at work with the other.
I do agree that money is not the only problem health care in this country; in fact the biggest problem lies with a lack of personal responsibility. That noted, you can't ignore a medical inflation rate that runs 4 times the rate of regular inflation. Couple that with very, very healthy profits in the whole medical care delivery system and you come to the conclusion that our system is fundamentally broken.
Put another way, a 12% ROI every year for everyone in the health care delivery chain is simply isn't sustainable. The free market DOES NOT WORK for the delivery of health care, as the profit motive runs counter to much of what is needed to deliver health care.
As for paying for it all, I have no problem paying my share. I just don't want to pay for other people's bad habits. Want government provided health care? Then stop smoking. Sounds harsh?Too bad.
- Steve
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