Social Security
A study by the nonpartisan Rand Corp. found that the rate of return for African-Americans was approximately 1% lower than that for whites. The result was a net lifetime transfer of wealth from blacks to whites averaging nearly $10,000 per person.
…whites have clearly received a disproportionate share of benefits relative to the taxes that they pay in at a point in time. Their benefit-to-tax ratio has been higher than that of blacks, Hispanics, and other ethnic groups for as long as the system has existed, while projections continue that trend at least for decades to come. -Urban Institute 
“Today, lots of people fortunately make it past 65,” he said. “They live into their 80s and 90s. They’re still getting checks. The system doesn’t work that way anymore. It’s not as healthy as it once was. So, how does a Republican deal with the fact it is a Ponzi scheme in the sense that the money that’s paid out every day is coming from people who have paid in that day. It’s not being made somewhere.” -Chris Matthews
Social Security taxes have been raised some 40 times since the program began. The initial Social Security tax was 2 percent (split between the employer and employee), capped at $3,000 of earnings. That made for a maximum tax of $60. Today, the tax is 12.4 percent, capped at $106,800, for a maximum tax of $13,234. Even adjusting for inflation, that represents more than an 800 percent increase.
Government, Incompetence, Financial, Funny
The House passed legislation Monday aimed at stopping the federal government from mailing letters to people that include their Social Security numbers — including in envelops that have these vital numbers printed on the outside where anyone can see them... "It was on the outside of the envelope," Chaffetz said on the House floor as he laughed. "Mr. Speaker, this it totally and completely unacceptable."
Government, Incompetence, Financial, Oops, Waste, Debt
Social Security Administration (SSA) officials spent $300 million over an eight-year period developing a new disability case processing software that is useless, according to the SSA Office of Inspector General (IG)... Eight years later, what little the agency has developed through contractors is so useless SSA might be better off sticking with its old management systems, the IG found.
Government, Incompetence, Financial, Oops, Waste
Six years ago the Social Security Administration embarked on an aggressive plan to replace outdated computer systems overwhelmed by a growing flood of disability claims. Nearly $300 million later, the new system is nowhere near ready and agency officials are struggling to salvage a project racked by delays and mismanagement, according to an internal report commissioned by the agency... "The DCPS project is adrift, the scope of the project is ambiguous, the project has been poorly executed, and the project's development lacks leadership"...
Liberal, Government, Incompetence, Financial, Oops, Lie
Elmendorf said there are various ways to proceed: "But they tend to be unpleasant in one way or another, and we have not, as a society, decided how much of that sort of unpleasantness to inflict on whom." He noted that many Americans have paid Social Security taxes for decades, expecting to get benefits in retirement. But the money people paid years ago was used to fund other government activities.
Government, Incompetence, Financial, Fraud, Oops, Corruption, Debt
Social Security experts testified Thursday that a recent surge in falsely awarded disability benefits threatens the viability of a program whose trust fund will be exhausted by 2016. Administrative law judges, who grant the benefits in some cases, told members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that they are often pressured by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to quickly resolve the disability cases and reduce a massive backlog.
And that is precisely what the welfare state consisted of. Living for today. Social security is a perfect example. It was never a “fund”; it was never anything more than a payroll tax moving money from young workers to old workers. For it while it seemed to work, but only because the West was running on the legacy of a generation that believed in tomorrow and had sacrificed its life and youth in World War 2 to secure it. -Richard Fernandez
Government, Incompetence
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- More Americans are being erroneously killed off by the Social Security Administration every day. Of the approximately 2.8 million death reports the Social Security Administration receives per year, about 14,000 -- or one in every 200 deaths -- are incorrectly entered into its Death Master File, which contains the Social Security numbers, names, birth dates, death dates, zip codes and last-known residences of more than 87 million deceased Americans. That averages out to 38 life-altering mistakes a day.
Editorial, Government, Incompetence, Financial, Bigbrother
People retiring today are part of the first generation of workers who have paid more in Social Security taxes during their careers than they will receive in benefits after they retire. It's a historic shift that will only get worse for future retirees, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.
Government, Incompetence, Financial
In 1980 the County officially opted out of SSA and the new plan went live on January 1, 1981. Today, current County Judge James Yarbrough says, "We like our system a lot!" Ray Holbrook says, "County retirees 2-3 times what the SSA pays and participants are able to leave their assets in the plan to survivors. They also receive disability and life insurance under the plan. In fact, the surviving spouse of one Commissioner who passed away in the late 1990's received over $250,000 between her husband's plan contributions and his life insurance benefits.
Government, Incompetence, Financial
Our plan, put together by financial experts, was a "banking model" rather than an "investment model." To eliminate the risks of the up-and-down stock market, workers' contributions were put into conservative fixed-rate guaranteed annuities, rather than fluctuating stocks, bonds or mutual funds. Our results have been impressive: We've averaged about 6.5% annual rate of return over 24 years. And we've provided substantially better benefits in all three Social Security categories: retirement, survivorship, disability. Workers making $17,000 a year are expected to receive about 50% more per month on our alternative plan than on Social Security — $1,036 instead of $683. Workers making $75,000 or more will nearly triple Social Security, $4,540 instead of $1,645.
Government, Incompetence, Financial
There were only 1.75 full-time private-sector workers in the United States last year for each person receiving benefits from Social Security, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Social Security board of trustees.
Editorial, Government, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Fear
Obama beat everyone, however, with his scaremongering claim that Social Security checks are at risk if he doesn't get his way on the debt ceiling. "I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on Aug. 3 if we haven't resolved this issue," he told CBS News, "because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it." Wait! What happened to Social Security's "guarantee"? You know, the iron-clad assurance of Social Security benefits in exchange for paying into the program your whole working life? It's something Democrats constantly talk about, particularly when attacking Republicans who propose privatizing the program.