The Coronavirus thread

Quote: Gandler

Sounds like the State is doing a better job running it than the private sector....

Imagine if this carried over to other sectors like healthcare....

It wouldn't. Read what I said how for 50 years the state ran it Soviet style.

Quote: AZDuffman

It wouldn't. Read what I said how for 50 years the state ran it Soviet style.

And, then it improved to be better? (Safer and cleaner and better stocked in your words) compared to private stores in other States? That was your statement.

If that is an unfair charactization/summary, I am welcomed to be corrected.

Quote: Gandler

Sounds like the State is doing a better job running it than the private sector....

Imagine if this carried over to other sectors like healthcare....

They would lose money every year, like Amtrak has been doing since 1971

They would be insolvent, like Medicare is going to be in four years.

Insolvent like Social Security is going to be in eleven years.

"The trustees now project the OASI fund will be insolvent in 2033, meaning there will be enough income to pay out only 76 percent of scheduled payments."

Quote: Tanko

They would lose money every year, like Amtrak has been doing since 1971

They would be insolvent, like Medicare is going to be in four years.

Insolvent like Social Security is going to be in eleven years.

"The trustees now project the OASI fund will be insolvent in 2033, meaning there will be enough income to pay out only 76 percent of scheduled payments."

I don't believe Social Security will ever be insolvent without a replacement program being put in place. Just remember, the government can print as much money as it wants. Yes, inflation will go up but they can continue to fund SS forever.

A private company won't run it better, because it can't be run as a business.

1 of 2 seniors were dying impoverished before Social Security. It's not a money maker for a private company. No reason to even compare a program like that to a private business. A private business would either go bankrupt or stop paying, if that's what you want.

And medicare isn't either.

Hmmmmmmm

2020: 352,000 chinese flu deaths, no vaccines

2021: 353,000 chinese flu deaths, 3 vaccines

United States deaths

Quote: rxwine

A private company won't run it better, because it can't be run as a business.

Sure it could. The reason Social Security is going broke is because all those decades when it was in the black and there was plenty of money and would have been plenty of money for the future those stupid jerks in Congress kept borrowing from the Social Security fund and never paying it back. They just cannot stand it if money is sitting there waiting to be spent in the future. Right now the US Treasury owes Social Security 2.9 trillion dollars. They don't look at it as stealing they look at it as investing, but it's really the same thing.

Quote: Evenbob

Sure it could. The reason Social Security is going broke is because all those decades when it was in the black and there was plenty of money and would have been plenty of money for the future those stupid jerks in Congress kept borrowing from the Social Security fund and never paying it back. They just cannot stand it if money is sitting there waiting to be spent in the future. Right now the US Treasury owes Social Security 2.9 trillion dollars. They don't look at it as stealing they look at it as investing, but it's really the same thing.

Most people get more money out than they put in and the ratio of workers to retirees has fallen. That's not a model for private business, unless you mean businesses with failed pension funds.

And if we're going to subsidize another private industry with government funds we might as well keep it all government.

Quote: rxwine

Most people get more money out than they put in and the ratio of workers to retirees has fallen. .

That's because it was not run like a business along the way. Congress has no idea how to run a business that makes a profit. If you read about it the biggest criticism of Social Security is Congress never does anything to change it, to improve it. They don't know how, all they know how to do is steal money from it and call it borrowing. FedEx and UPS make a profit, how come the USPS never does.

Quote: Evenbob

Sure it could. The reason Social Security is going broke is because all those decades when it was in the black and there was plenty of money and would have been plenty of money for the future those stupid jerks in Congress kept borrowing from the Social Security fund and never paying it back. They just cannot stand it if money is sitting there waiting to be spent in the future. Right now the US Treasury owes Social Security 2.9 trillion dollars. They don't look at it as stealing they look at it as investing, but it's really the same thing.

The Canadian equivalent to Social Security is CPP. The fund is managed by a separate branch that is mandated to invest the money for the benefit of the current and future retirees without input from the government (in effect a PRIVATE Investment Company). Canada's CPP is properly funded and future payments are secure.