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Wednesday, June 8, 2011 | 7:27 a.m.
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This is deja vu from 2010, when callers to conservative talk shows elicited damaging remarks from GOP Senate hopeful Sharron Angle. Just a week after calling Social Security a "pyramid scheme" and then having to walk it back, Rep. Joe Heck was asked about the remark by Alan Stock on his program Tuesday. I won't suggest this was a set-up call by the Democrats, as some seemed to be in 2010, but it doesn't matter because of Heck's response.
Instead of correcting the caller or decrying the term that got him in trouble, Heck simply agreed with "Robert," as you can see below (audio posted at right)-- if nothing else, you have to admire Heck's consistency and intensity:
Stock: Let’s head over to Robert. Robert you’re on KXNT with Dr. Joe Heck. Good afternoon, sir.
Robert: Good afternoon. How are you gentlemen doing today?
Stock: Fine. Good right ahead, sir.
Robert: Congressman Heck, I just wanted to thank you, you know, because I’m a working man just like the rest of you and you’re absolutely right: Social Security is a pyramid scheme. And, you know, I’m just (unintelligible) because the money I’m paying right now I am paying for other peoples’ futures and fewer and fewer people are paying for my benefits as well. And that’s not what Social Security is intended for. Why aren’t more people talking about this, and what can Washington do to starting doing something to fix it?
Heck: Yeah, it’s a great question Robert and you’re exactly right. You know back in 1955 there were nine people paying in for every person collecting. By 1973 that dropped down to three to one. It’s projected that over the next 20 years it will be down to two to one. You know and it’s already said that Social Security is probably going to be insolvent in about 20 years. So we can wait until 20 years from now to take action, or we can take action now. And like you I’ve been paying into Social Security for almost 32 years and want to make sure that there’s a benefit there when I retire. I co-sponsored a bill that would say that Social Security contributions from your paycheck go into a fund that can only be used to pay for Social Security. You know, Congress… previous Congresses have raided the trust fund for other pet projects and to try to balance the budget and use it for other projects. We’ve got to make sure that the money going in goes specifically to those that are expecting a benefit at some point in time. And then we’re going to have to look at a lot of other options to put on the table to make sure that the program remains viable and stable. It’s a matter of leadership. You know, previous Congress has done nothing about the debt. They show no leadership o nthe debt and now we’re in a debt crisis. They are showing no leadership on Medicare and we are approaching a Medicare crisis. And if nobody wants to show leadership on Social Security we’ll have the same crisis in about 20 years.
Stock: Robert, appreciate your call this afternoon. Thanks a lot for joining us.
----
This is just what the Democrats are looking for and what they will be doing in races across the country on Social Security and Medicare -- and Heck just keeps giving them fodder.
Except - what Heck said was true and is plainly documented on ssa.gov, Social Security's website. There are not sufficient workers to support those drawing off the system. Further, you continue to draw SS until you die (and then even some survivor benefits), even if you exhaust your "account". What makes it a pyramid scheme is that people collecting now paid in substantially less than they take out, due to longevity. When you take out more than you paid in, and rely on people lower on the pyramid to keep your money coming, guess what, it's a Ponzi scheme.
Why does Joe Heck hate Nevada's seniors? I'm reminded of the "Hooverville's" of the early 1930s. If Hecks dreams of privatization were to come true, should we start referring to all the clusters of homeless, destitute seniors and disabled people as "Ryanville's: Made Possible in Nevada by the Cowardice of Joe Heck"?
ok,so lets get this right.dr hecks a big time physician hauling in likely a million or more per year and hes worried about his piddly social security benefit.maybe him and his rich people ilk could forgo what certainly amounts to monthly chump change for the wealthy.then there'd be more left over for those that really need it.how about that idea mr GOP dr heck.
"Clueless" Joe...
Any politician who goes on the Alan Stock radio show deserves what they get. Usually, that means softball-lobbed questions, callers that ask ONLY the questions you would be willing to answer, and a host that kisses your butt...shamelessly.
Is this "serving the public interest", as the FCC license for KXNT requires?
Ah... I'm thinking NO.
They might just as well come right out and say it;
"KXNT, your Right Wing AM station, where we pander to the weakest link!"
"It's time for the Alan Stock Raaydio show...whaddya say we have a TEA PARTY! YEAAAH!"
BARF.
Well, the heartening thing for me is that their ratings STINK, so they might as well be using 2 tin cans and some string, instead of wasting energy with a big stick.
The pyramid scheme idea is so wrong. The problem is that the funds get used for other things and now Joe and all those who have more than two nickels need to pay their share and be responsible citizens instead of throwing stones which we might call stupidity and ignorance.
Heck panders to those out there (white, working class) who feel put upon and feel that anyone collecting from the government (except themselves) is their enemy. These include the idiots who are on medicare and are currently collecting Social Security. They know that they now have theirs but don't want anyone else to get anything, as if it would take away from them.
Maybe I'm wrong but isn't a Pyramid shaped small at the top and large at the bottom. So, if Social Security were a Pyramid scheme there would be more and more people at the bottom paying up to less people at the top. That is opposite of what is happening with Social Security. More people at the top with less people at the bottom. The caller was probably repeating something that he heard on another AM radio show. Rather than just trying to do away with Social Security maybe Heck should consider a moderate approach such as an increase in contributions, raise the retirement age, and allow for some low risk investment of contributions. Try operating Social Security for what it really is, a defined benefit retirement fund.
I agree with him. There is more being paid out than taken. If it's not a pyramid scheme, then what is it. It's not positively funded and continues to have negative cash flow. Money was moved to the general fund in the early 60's in stead of the dedicated account. You morons just want to attack the guy for any reason and every time I read these, it confirms what I've said all along. Las Vegas is populated by mostly uneducated people who work well with their hands but not their brains.
Social Security and Medicare are a bought and paid for annuity, no different than any type of private insurance.
The people that draw SS and Medicare have paid their SS an Medicare taxes for 40-45 years and when they become eligible they draw a basic income from SSA and medical insurance that pays 80% of the bills.
The average SS recipient receives $1,000 per month with which to live on. You are not going to get rich on SS but you can survive.
When new investors are brought in to support the older investors, this is called a Ponzi scheme. The most recent schemer to be caught was Madoff.
I don't see how Social Security is unlike other Ponzi schemes other than the government is behind it.
Someone please explain to me the difference.
rick,
Read the linked article and if you don't change your mind it is only because of blind partisanship:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/06/news/eco...
to all of you liberals with nothing better to do:
It's pretty clear that Heck's agreement was with the statement referring to the fact that there is a problem that needs to get fixed, to any moderately intelligent and unbiased person that is. Heck called it like it is...look up pyramid financing and you'll see a textbook explanation of SS. Should he have included the word "scheme"? Probably not, However, what amazes me is the juvenile way the liberals have chosen to divert attention away from the fact that they have all but annihilated this country with their spending, and instead, focus on 1 word. Of course, I'm sure liberals like Harry Reid and Obama ALWAYS have the perfect chosen words and NEVER offend anyone, right?
The problem still exists, with or without the 'bad' words. Grow up, prioritize and focus on the real problems. Your holier-than-thou-I-would-never-utter-an-unintended-word mentality is predictable and boring, I guess because you all are so perfect while sitting on your asses and throwing balls from the cheap seats. Sans the politics, Heck is an upstanding member of this community, an extremely intelligent physician and military officer who has served our country throughout his life, as well as a husband and father. If he misspoke like this at a friends' Sunday BBQ, no one would raise an eyebrow. Yet, because he is in politics, (again serving his community) and happens to be on the other side of the fence as you, it's all fair game? Hey, it's not like he said "boobies" in public. Grow up and worry about the real issues, if you know what they are"
Anything on that show is nutty and has no credibility whatsoever. Stock was a "fixer" in the Ensign debacle and failed at that. The Station has gone through 3 program directors in the last year, and an FM disk jockey was test marketed for low-rated Stock.
Also, the death panels are supposed to start turning Seniors into soylent Senior and therefore the financial viability of Social Security and Medicare is not a problem because the plug will be pulled on all the people are not needed anymore.
That is exactly what it is. It pays current obligations with money collected as they go. Instead of using the original investments-which of course, the government already spent.
I read the link to CNN and it actually admits to all the elements of a ponzi, but claims it will all work out for the best-Very Convincing. LOL
Mark: Call up the government and ask them to show you where all your social security money is being kept. Just do it. If you get an answer it will be something to the effect that we don't have it there, the benefits you earn will be paid out of money received from the group and returned to you when you reach the appropriate age to receive benefits. And so we have a definition of what social security is. And below we have the American Heritage Dictionary definition of a Ponzi Scheme. I see no difference. Please enlighten me as to what it might be.
Ponzi scheme (pnz) KEY
NOUN:
An investment swindle in which high profits are promised from fictitious sources and early investors are paid off with funds raised from later ones.
There's a name for someone that hears the truth but denies it! An enabler comes close to that. Demorats, namely Dingy Harry, sez SS and Medicare is ok, no problem! Some Republicans, Ryan and Heck, say SS and Medicare are going broke! So, it depends on who you believe! For me, I go with Heck and Ryan! Good ol' common sense tells me that with 2 workers to 1 recipient in 2035, the system is in deep doo doo. If you are worried about SS and you are in your 40's I think I would be very worried.
bbtbrain,
That you don't understand the difference between a Ponzi Scheme and SSN just shows your usual lack of cognition skill. Call up your bank and ask where all your money is being kept. At any given time most capital is lent out and your money isn't there. I guess this means the bank is a Ponzi Scheme as well.
Mark Schaffer, thanks for the enlightening article. It provides no reason to believe that Social Security is NOT a Ponzi scheme.
The article suggests that Social security does not promise huge benefits which in fact it does. I consider a monthly check for life, disability and survivors benefits huge.
Secondly, S.S. is doomed to fail unless benefits are delaed, reduced, means tested or a combination of all the above. If S.S. were kept as originally created, like Madoff's scheme, it too would be bankrupt today.
This is not a partisan opinion, this is reality.