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Deficit Commission Co-Chair Erskine Bowles Falsely Claims Social Security ‘Runs Out Of Money In 2037′

Last week, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, the co-chairs of President Obama’s deficit reduction commission, released a report outlining their recommendations for reducing the federal budget deficit. One of their most contentious proposals is to gradually raise the retirement age to 69, a move the co-chairs claim is meant to maintain the system’s solvency.

This morning, Simpson and Bowles appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss their proposals. At one point, Simpson explained his view that balancing the budget would require going “to where the meat is. And the meat is health care, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security.” Host Joe Scarborough then complained that while AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka attacked the proposals for cutting Social Security, Scarborough said he doesn’t think the co-chairs went far enough (co-host Mika Brzezinski agreed). Bowles then defended their proposal, saying, “What we’ve done is make Social Security solvent for the next 75 years. As you all know, Social Security runs out of money in 2037. We’re not making it up. That’s the law”:

SIMPSON: You’ve gotta go where the meat is. And the meat is health care, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. Not balancing the books on the backs of poor old staggering seniors to make the damn thing solvent for 75 years.

SCARBOROUGH: We were stunned, Erskine, by some of the things that were said after the commission report came out, saying, “Seniors are going to be thrown out on the street!” I looked at the numbers to be really honest with you, and I didn’t think you moved fast enough on Social Security and Medicare. We calculated that I guess, it was Trumka, who I like very much, Trumka said that this throws old people out. My two year old son Jack will get Social Security at 69. People in their 20′s and 30′s will be just fine.

BRZEZINSKI: In fact, I think you could’ve gone further.

SIMPSON: I know Rich very well. He’s a good egg. He has to say for what he has to say for his membership. But he knows I’m right.

BOWLES: What we’ve done is make Social Security solvent for the next 75 years. As you all know, Social Security runs out of money in 2037. We’re not making it up. That’s the law.

Watch it:

Social Security is currently projected to be fully solvent until the year 2037. After that, it is expected to be able to pay out 75 percent of benefits until 2084, which basically equals full benefits, once inflation is accounted for. There is no threat of the program running out of money any time soon — certainly not in 2037. That does not mean that there aren’t positive and progressive changes that could possibly be made to the system.

However, the hike in retirement age that the MSNBC co-hosts and deficit commission co-chairmen are praising would be a very punitive way to ensure further solvency. As a Government Accountability Office report recently obtained by the AP found, “Raising the retirement age for Social Security would disproportionately hurt low-income workers and minorities, and increase disability claims by older people unable to work.”

Scaborough may not be entirely wrong to shrug off the possibility of his son Jack retiring at 69, if his son ends up being in the same socioeconomic class as him. Almost all of the gains in life expectancy over the past few decades have been among upper income earners. If current trends continue, middle and lower class Americans will see very little gain in life expectancy by the time the co-chairs plan to hike the retirement age. And “nearly half of workers over the age of 58 work at jobs that are either physically demanding or involve difficult work conditions,” meaning that if those trends continue, blue-collar workers will be hurt particularly hard by raising the retirement age.

Unfortunately, most Americans are not highly-paid TV hosts like Brzezinski and Scarborough.

When I do a talk about entrepreneurship for students I regularly bring some money and hand it out. Not a lot, but more than enough to get them well on their way to launching their first business and becoming insanely rich. I also announce this at the beginning of my talk and usually they get pretty excited about the prospect of going some with some money. By the end of my talk I remind them of the money, I call it funding, I promised at the beginning of my talk. Then I hand out envelopes to the first 20 or 30 students that make it to the stage first. The envelope contains 1 euro or dollar, and my business card.

The proposition I make is simple; take my 1 euro or dollar and take 1 week to double it. Then use the two dollar and multiply that by two in the second week. After 21 weeks you’ve got your first million and after 28 weeks you are at 100 million. By week 31 you are a billionaire and after 7 week you are the richest person in the world. After 45 weeks you will own all the money in the world, and some change.

Part of the deal, and why my business card is in the envelope is that they have to agree to give me 1% of whatever they made after a year. I’m eagerly awaiting my first few billion from the first student to do well.

Of course I don’t expect any of those students to keep doubling their money week over week. What I do hope is that they will start thinking differently about making money. Most people dream big, and that is fine, unless those dreams stand in the way of actually making money. And making money can be very simple. So simple that you can get started on it right now. In fact, leave your email-address in the comment field and I will fund you your first euro, or dollar, to get started. All I ask in return is 1% of your newly gained wealth after a year.

If you can turn a dollar into 2 dollars you are successful in business. Now all you have to do is scale that.

eric seiger do

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Making Money Program

Deficit Commission Co-Chair Erskine Bowles Falsely Claims Social Security ‘Runs Out Of Money In 2037′

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