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  • 2012-07-22 (xsd:date)
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  • Social Security as 'Federal Benefit Payments' (en)
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  • It's true that Social Security retirement payments are classified as federal benefit payments, but that's about the only bit of information the author of a screed about the Social Security system got right — and even at that he erred in mistakenly assuming this terminology to be new and in misconstrued what it meant: The word benefits has been applied to Social Security retirement payments since the Social Security program was enacted in the 1930s. The terminology is also not unique to Social Security, as the phrase federal benefit payments applies to a broad class of payments made to (or on behalf of) individuals under federal government programs — everything from Social Security Disability Insurance to Medicare to farm subsidies are considered federal benefit payments. The fact that workers themselves contribute much of the money that goes into the Social Security retirement fund doesn't affect its classification as a benefit. Likewise, the word entitlement has long been the standard terminology for payments made under government programs that guarantee and provide benefits to particular groups. Persons who have demonstrated their eligibility to claim such payments are entitled (i.e., qualified for by right according to law) to receive them. The usage has nothing to do with pejorative connotations associated with the word (e.g., a sense of entitlement) which are often applied to denote people expecting or demanding something they do not merit. As for the calculations about savings detailed in the latter half of the above-quoted example, they're far off the mark for a number of reasons: Additionally, the statement that our retired seniors living on a 'fixed income' receive no aid nor do they get any breaks, while our government pours hundreds of billions of $$$$$$'s to foreign countries reflects a common but grossly inaccurate perception of how the federal government spends taxpayer monies. In fact, the bulk of the federal budget (by far) goes towards providing for retirees and low-income households: 20% of the budget pays for Social Security, 21% pays for health insurance programs (Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP), and another 13% pays for financial safety net programs. By contrast, only about 1% of the federal budget is spent on foreign aid. Finally, although the anonymous author of this piece uses the term Social Security insurance, he doesn't seem to understand that's exactly what Social Security is. Social Security isn't a savings plan or an investment scheme; it's an Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program intended to ensure that Americans are guaranteed a minimum monthly payment in their non-working years. As with all insurance programs, some people will eventually receive less than they paid in, and others will receive more. (en)
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